A  SOVEREIGN  REMEDY 


FLORA  ANNIE  STEEL 


li 


THIS     BOOK 
EXCHANGED  FOR  5e 
HOLMES  BOOK  CO. 
70  1VUB9  ST.S.F. 


A  SOVEREIGN  REMEDY 


A  Sovereign  Remedy 


By 


FLORA  ANNIE  STEEL 

Author  of  "  On  the  Face  of  the  Water," 
11  The  Hosts  of  the  Lord,"  "  Voices  in  the  Night,"  etc. 


New  York 

Doubleday,  Page  &  Company 

1907 


Copyright,  1906,  by 

Flora  Annie  Steel 

Published,  January,  1907 


All  rights  reserved, 

including  that  of  translation  into  foreign  languages, 

including  the  Scandinavian 


A  SOVEREIGN  REMEDY 


A  SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


CHAPTER    I 


3) 


"Oh!    Dash  it  all!  .  .  .  I'm  so  sorry  .  .  .! 

"  Oh!    Dash  it  all!  ...  I'm  so  sorry  .  .  .!  " 

The  coincident  exclamations  and  their  sequent  apology 
were  separated  by  a  crash,  followed  by  a  pause,  during 
which  the  two  cyclists  who  had  collided  picked  themselves 
out  of  the  dust  unhurt  and  looked  quickly  at  their  ma- 
chines ;  finally  turning  to  each  other  with  a  smiling  bien- 
veillance  born  of  relief — for  there  was  no  denying  that 
the  affair  might  have  been  serious,  and  they  were  both 
conscious  of  sin. 

1 '  It  was  my  fault ;  I  was  looking  at  the  view, ' '  said  one 
of  the  two  young  men  candidly.  He  was  a  trifle  the 
taller,  the  broader,  and  distinctly  the  better  looking;  but 
they  were  both  excellent  specimens  of  clean,  wholesome- 
looking  British  manhood ;  curiously  alike  also,  not  only  in 
feature,  but  in  resolute  adherence  to  the  conventional 
type. 

"  But  so  was  I!  "  returned  the  other.  His  voice  was 
the  pleasanter,  not  perhaps  so  resonant,  but  with  more 
modulation  in  it.  "  Besides,  your  machine  is  damaged, 
and  mine  isn't — Oh!  by  George!  I  hadn't  noticed  the 
pedal,"  he  added,  following  the  other's  look.  He  bent 
for  closer  inspection,  then  gave  a  laugh  which  was  but 
half  rueful ;  in  truth,  he  was  not  altogether  dissatisfied 
with  this  justice  of  Providence. 

"  About  equal — so  we'll  cry  quits,"  he  said. 

'  *  It  means  walking  for  us  both, ' '  said  the  other  with 
ja  shrug.    ' '  Are  you  going  my  way  ?  ' ' 

He  nodded  towards  the  blue  depths  of  the  valley, 

1 


2  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

which,  from  this  gap  in  the  wavy  outline  of  rolling  hill 
where  they  stood,  dipped  down  to  the  distant  sea  that  lay 
half-way  up  the  sky  like  a  level  pale-blue  cloud. 

The  gap  was  the  summit  level  between  east  and  west ;  as 
such,  a  meeting-place  for  much  water,  and  many  roads. 

One  of  the  latter  meandered  backwards  over  the  wide 
stretch  of  pink  bell-heather  and  tasselled  cotton  grass 
which  told  of  a  catchment  bog,  where,  even  in  fine  weath- 
er, the  mountain  mists  dissolved  into  dew,  and  the  dew 
gathered  itself  into  dark  peaty  pools  like  brown  eyes 
among  the  tufted  lashes  of  the  bents  and  rushes. 

And  on  either  side  of  this  central  track  two  others 
curved  down  the  rolling  moor,  north  and  south,  to  turn 
sharply  behind  a  patch  of  gorse  and  boulders  to  join 
hands,  all  three,  for  the  steep  descent  before  them,  as  if 
afraid  of  solitude  in  this  new  venture.  Whence,  indeed, 
had  come  the  collision  between  the  two  cyclists,  each  in- 
tent on  a  suddenly  disclosed  view. 

"  There  is  no  other  way — except  back  on  our  traces — 
back  to  Blackborough — Good  Lord !  ' '  came  the  reply. 

The  first  speaker  smiled.  ' '  So  you  are  a  Blackberry 
also — Well !  it  is  an  awful  place — one  can  hardly  credit 
up  here  that  all  the  soot  and  dirt  is  only — say  a  hundred 
miles  off.    Here  one  can  breathe " 

He  looked  as  if  he  could  do  more  than  that,  as,  finally 
shaking  himself  free  of  the  last  speck  of  dust,  he  prepared 
to  start. 

"  Left  nothing  behind,  I  hope,"  said  the  other, 
glancing  back.  ' '  Hullo !  There 's  a  letter  tumbled  out 
of  somebody 's  pocket  in  the  stramash — yours  or  mine  1  ' ' 

It  lay  address  upwards  between  them,  and  the  taller  of 
the  two  with  a  brief  ' '  Mine, ' '  picked  it  up  and  put  it  in 
his  pocket.    His  companion  stared  at  him. 

' '  Look  here, ' '  he  said,  holding  out  his  hand.  ' '  You've 
made  a  mistake — that  letter  belongs  to  me — I'm  Edward 
Cruttenden. ' ' 

It  was  the  other's  turn  to  stare.  "  The  deuce  you  are ! 
Why! — my  name  is  Edward  Cruttenden!  " 

They  stood  thus  staring  at  each  other  with  a  sudden 


J.   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  3 

dim  sense  of  their  own  similarity,  until  the  shorter  of  the 
two  shook  his  head  whimsically. 

"  This  is  confusing,"  he  remarked  in  a  tone  of  argu- 
ment. i '  Let 's  sit  down  and  have  a  pipe  over  it — we  shall 
have  to  differentiate  ourselves  before  we  start  out  into 
the  world  together. ' ' 

Almost  at  their  feet  a  tiny  trickle  of  water,  scarcely 
heard  in  its  soft  bed  of  sphagnum  moss,  told  that  already 
the  descent  had  begun;  but- this  was  stayed  a  few  feet 
further  by  a  rocky  hollow  in  which  the  stream  gathered 
and  brimmed,  so  that  as  you  looked  out  over  the  shallow- 
ing pool,  the  rushes  which  fringed  it  stood  out  against  the 
far  distant  blue  of  the  sea  beyond,  and  there  seemed  no 
reason  why  the  little  lakelet  should  not  take  one  wild  leap 
into  the  ocean,  and  so  save  itself  many  miles  of  weary 
journeying  through  unseen  valleys. 

On  the  brink  of  this  pool,  their  backs  against  a  con- 
venient boulder,  their  legs  on  the  short  sweet  turf  that 
was  kept  like  a  lawn  by  the  hungry  nip  of  mountain 
sheep,  the  two  Edward  Cruttendens  rested,  smoked,  and 
compared  notes ;  somewhat  dilatorily,  since  the  afternoon 
was  fine  and  the  effect  of  a  sinking  sun  on  moor  and  fell 
absolutely  soul-satisfying. 

"  Let's  differentiate  our  names  somehow,"  said  the 
pleasant- voiced  one  lazily — "  Did  your  godfathers,  etc., 
do  anything  more  for  you  than  Edward — mine  didn't." 

The  other  shook  his  head.  Something  in  his  handsome 
face  had  already  differentiated  itself  from  the  amused 
curiosity  on  his  companion's. 

"  That's  awkward — we  shall  be  driven  to  abbrevia- 
tions. You  shall  be  Ted,  and  I  Ned — both  dentals  but 
philologically  uninterchangeable ;  so  they'll  do  for  the 
present.  Well,  Ted,  since  you  are  twenty-seven  and  I'm 
gone  twenty-nine,  and  my  father  died  before  I  was  born, 
we  can't  be  complicated  up  as  long-lost  brothers — can 
we?  " 

Ted  turned  to  him  frowning  sharply — "  No!  but — but 
what  put  that  into  your  head.    I " 

Ned  laughed ;  a  laugh  as  musical  as  his  voice,  but  with 


4  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

a  quaint  aloofness  about  it  as  if  he  himself  were  standing 
aside  to  listen. 

1 '  The  position  is — romantic ;  and  novels  have  it  so  al- 
ways. As  if  it  were  not  frankly  impossible  in  this  Eng- 
land of  ours  to  dissociate  one  man  from  another  by  breed 
— we're  hopeless  mongrels,  kin  to  each  other  all  round. 
Birth  counts  for  nothing;  so  let's  quit  it— Upbringing  1  " 

Ted  interrupted  shortly—"  I— I  never  knew  my  fa- 
ther, and  my  mother  died  when  I  was  born." 

' '  So  did  mine, ' '  said  Ned  softly. 

There  was  a  pause  in  which  the  luring  wail  of  a  circling 
plover  who  deemed  the  intruders  too  near  her  nest,  be- 
came insistent,  and  seemed  to  nil  the  mountain  solitude 
with  a  sense  of  motherhood,  until,  once  more,  the  musical, 
critical  laugh  struck  in  on  it. 

"  '  Come!  '  as  Shakespeare  says,  '  there's  sympathy 
for  you!  '  So  far  we  start  fair.  Education? — I  was  at 
Eton,  and " 

"  I  was  a  Blue-Coat  boy,"  interrupted  Ted  again,  and 
something  in  his  tone  made  Ned  look  the  other  way,  and 
idly  busy  himself  in  trying  to  dissociate  a  tender  trail  of 
ivy-leaved  mountain  campanula  from  its  coarser  com- 
panions in  the  turf. 

"A  better  education,  I  expect,"  he  said  at  last, 
' '  though  I  admit  the  yellow  stockings  must  be  devilish ; 
still  "—he  paused,  settled  himself  yet  more  comfortably 
in  his  cleft,  and  with  clasped  hands  behind  his  head,  re- 
lapsed into  smoke  and  silence.  Even  the  plover,  con- 
vinced of  their  innocence,  had  ceased  her  wheeling,  luring 
wail. 

So  desultorily,  sometimes  in  thought  only,  sometimes  by 
question  and  answer,  they  sat  trying  to  dissociate  them- 
selves from  the  tie  of  a  common  name.  And  before  them 
the  afternoon  sun,  slowly  sinking  towards  extinction  in 
the  sea,  began  to  send  level  rays  of  light  to  fill  up  the 
valley  with  a  golden  haze  in  which  all  things  lost  their 
individuality. 

Finally  Ned  sat  up,  and  knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his 
pipe. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  5 

"  About  equal,  I  should  say;  except,  of  course,  for 
money. ' ' 

*  *  That  means  we  are  unequal  in  all  things, ' '  remarked 
Ted  shortly.  ' '  You  can 't  deny  it.  A  clerk  as  I  am,  out 
for  a  Whitsun  holiday  with  ten  pounds  to  spend  on  it  in 
his  pocket,  isn't — isn't  in  the  same  week  with — well !  what 
shall  I  say " 

"  A  man  who  employs  clerks,"  suggested  Ned  with  a 
smile. 

Ted  gave  an  impatient  shrug.  "As  you  will.  How- 
ever you  come  by  it,  you  admit  having  a  hundred 
pounds. ' ' 

"A  hundred  and  ten  I  should  say,"  interrupted  Ned, 
who  was  counting  a  handful  of  loose  gold  and  silver. 
"I've  a  hundred  in  notes  besides.  However!  That 
needn't  be  a  difficulty!  " 

The  level,  golden  sun-rays  flashed  on  a  curved  gold 
flight,  as  a  bright  new  sovereign  flitted  duck-and-drake 
fashion  over  the  brimming  pool  at  their  feet,  then  disap- 
peared, leaving  a  circled  series  of  ripples  like  a  smoke 
wreath  on  its  shiny  surface. 

' '  Hold  hard !  I  say — you  know — here !  stop  that,  will 
you — don 't  be  such  a  blamed  fool !  "  .  .  . 

There  was  imminent  danger  of  a  struggle  in  reality 
when  a  voice  from  the  road  behind  them  said  with  a 
mixture  of  appeal  and  authority : 

' '  Do  not  quarrel,  see  you,  my  good  fellows,  but  tell  me 
the  cause  of  your  disagreement,  and  I  will  advise  to  the 
best  of  my  ability. ' ' 

The  speaker,  also  a  young  man  of  some  thirty  years, 
was  tall  and  dark  with  a  jaw  which  should  have  been 
strong  from  its  length,  but  was  curiously  marred  by  the 
almost  feminine  softness  of  contour  which  belied  the  blue 
shadow  of  a  hard-shaven  beard.  For  the  rest  he  had  a 
fine  pair  of  fiery  dark  eyes,  set  close  to  the  thick  eyebrows 
which  almost  met  on  his  high,  narrow  forehead.  It  was 
the  face  of  a  saint  or  a  sinner,  preferably  the  former; 
but  whichever  way,  the  face  of  an  enthusiast. 

"  You're  a  parson,"  said  Ned,  ceasing  from  horseplay 


6  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

and  eyeing  the  rusty  black  suit.  u  So  we  will  refer  to 
you,  sir,  since  you  are  bound  by  your  cloth  to  agree  with 
me,  and  say  that  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil. ' ' 

Apprised  of  the  cause  of  dispute,  the  Reverend  Morris 
Pugh,  of  the  Calvinistic  Methodist  Church  in  the  valley 
below,  sat  and  looked  doubtfully  first  at  the  loose  gold 
and  silver,  then  at  Ned  Cruttenden's  critical  blue  eyes. 
Both  appealed  to  him  strongly;  the  poetry  of  his  race 
leapt  up  to  meet  the  one,  the  inordinate  valuation  of  even 
a  penny,  also  typical  of  his  race,  reached  out  to  the  other. 

"  Don't  say  it  might  be  sold  and  given  to  the  poor,'' 
said  Ned  with  a  sudden  smile — ' '  To  begin  with,  the  re- 
mark has  been  appropriated  by  Judas,  and  then,  it 's  such 
a  rank  begging  of  the  question !  Poor  or  rich,  the  point  at 
issue  between  us — my  friend  over  there  being  a  bit  of  a 
socialist  is,  of  course,  a  bit  of  a  mammon  worshipper  also 
— is  whether  gold  is — is  a  sovereign  remedy !  I  say  not. 
It  doesn't  touch  the  personal  equation,  which  is  all  we 
have — if  we  have  that !  So  I  contend  that  neither  I,  nor 
the  world  at  large,  would  suffer  if  I  made  ducks  and 
drakes  like  this  ..." 

Another  curving  flight  of  gold  ended  in  a  swift  whit- 
whitter  of  lessening  leaps  and  a  final  disappearance ;  but 
this  time  the  detaining  hand  was  Morris  Pugh's.  His 
eager  face  held  no  doubt  as  to  his  desire,  though  his  mind 
evidently  hesitated  over  a  reason  for  it. 

"  You  really,  sir,  ought  not,"  he  began;  then  paused. 

"  Why !  "  asked  Ned  quietly. 

Ted  answered.  "  Because  it  isn't  really  yours.  You 
never  earned  it,  I'll  bet,  and  the  wealth  of  the  world  is 
labour " 

Ned  emptied  his  handful  on  the  turf  and  interrupted 
him. 

1 '  I  give  them  up !  There  they  are,  your  sovereign 
remedies !  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  them  ?  Why ! 
spend  them  to  please  yourselves,  of  course,  as  I  was  doing, 
as  every  one  does !  So  I  repeat,  it  wouldn  't  matter  a  hang 
to  the  world  or  any  of  us  three  here  present  if  I  were  to 
make " 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  7 

A  third  sovereign  would  have  followed  the  other  two, 
but  for  the  arresting  power  of  a  new  voice. 

"  Perhaps  not;  but  it  would  be  a  most  distinct  injury 
to  one  Peter  Ramsay,  M.D.     So  just  hand  it  over,  will 

ye? " 

Close  behind  them  stood  a  sturdy,  thick-set  man,  with 
bright  red-brown  eyes  and  bright  bronze-red  hair. 

He  had  evidently  come  down  one  of  the  steep  mountain 
sheep-tracks,  leading  his  pony,  for  it  stood  beside  him 
now,  its  hoofs  half  hidden  in  the  moss,  while  it  stretched 
its  inquiring  muzzle  towards  the  glittering  pile  of  sover- 
eigns, as  if  suspicioning  them  as  a  new  kind  of  corn. 

"  Welcome,  sir,  so  far  as  I  am  concerned/'  replied 
Ned  calmly.  "  But  it  isn't  in  any  lack  of  claimants  that 
our  difficulty  lies.  We  have  in  fact  too  many !  Our  rev- 
erend friend  wants  the  shekels,  why  he  would  be  puzzled 
to  say,  since  he  preaches  that  they  have  no  purchasing 
power  for  the  one  thing  needful.  My  namesake  over 
there  wouldn't  be  averse  to  them,  though  he  holds  the 
possession  of  gold  to  be  a  crime " 

"  I  never  said  so,"  broke  in  Ted  hotly. 

1 '  Excuse  me !  It  follows  inevitably  from  your  premise 
of  equality.  That  gives  the  coup  de  grace  to  lawful  per- 
sonal possession  of  anything;  since  '  to  possess,'  means 
the  having  and  holding  of  something  extraneous  to  the 
personality,  whereas  if  every  personality  has  an  equal 
amount  of  any  one  thing,  that  thing  ceases  to  be  a  posses- 
sion and  becomes  part  of  the  personality! — which,  of 
course,  is  mere  hair-splitting!  As  for  you,  doctor,  you 
also  are  illogical.  Health  and  life  are  the  goods  you 
desire,  yet  money  is  no  remedy  for  disease  and  death. 
Practically,  I  am  the  only  one  with  a  leg  to  stand  upon. 
I  am  a  pleasure  seeker,  pure  and  simple,  so,  as  this  gives 
me  pleasure — here  goes !  ' ' 

The  third  curved  flight  of  gold  finished  his  remarks  so 
pointedly  that  silence  fell  upon  all  four,  as  they  looked 
out  on  the  golden  light  haze,  which,  finding  a  mist-wreath 
in  its  path,  had  driven  it,  all  transmuted  into  gold,  to  blot 
out  both  land  and  sea,  leaving  nothing  visible  save  that 


8  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

foreground  of  rippled  brimming  pool,  set  in  its  fringe  of 
rushes.  The  peewit,  fearful  once  more  lest  the  new  comers 
should  have  keener  eyes,  wheeled  and  wailed ;  the  pony, 
dissatisfied  with  the  sovereigns,  nosed  and  nibbled  re- 
flectively at  the  coarse  grass  and  the  delicate  campanula. 

"  I'll  tell  you  what,"  cried  Ned  suddenly,  his  face 
showing  a  half  scornful  amusement.  "  Let  Fate  decide 
which  of  us  needs  money  most !  ' '  He  took  out  a  pocket- 
book  as  he  spoke,  and  withdrew  from  it  a  sheaf  of  bank 
notes.  "  There's  a  hundred  here,  and  I  don't  want  it — 
that  ' ' — he  pointed  to  the  cash — ' '  will  carry  me  through 
for  a  week,  so  my  namesake  and  I  could  start  fair  to- 
gether for  a  holiday — if  he  chooses.  I  '11  leave  this,  there- 
fore, on  desposit !  There  is  a  convenient  cleft  in  the  rock 
over  there,  and  my  tobacco-pouch  will  keep  out  the 
damp " 

He  produced  the  latter  also,  and  began  leisurely  to  ex- 
change contents,  while  the  others  gasped 

"  But,  sir,  you  can  never  mean,"  began  the  Reverend 
Morris  Pugh,  finding  his  voice  first — "  To  leave  money 
here,  so  close  to  the  road ! — think  of  the  temptation ! " 

1  'To  us,  certainly,"  interrupted  Ned  dryly,  "  but  to 
no  one  else.  It  is  ours  to  take  when  we  think  the  world — 
that  is,  of  course,  ourselves — wants  it — but  mind  you — we 
are  to  say  nothing  about  the  taking  to  any  one  else  in  the 
world.  Of  course,  we  agree  to  treat  it  as — let  us  say,  a 
sovereign  remedy;  therefore  we're  to  use  it  only  to — to 
cure  what  we  can't  cure  without  it." 

"  Or  think  we  can't  cure,"  amended  Peter  Ramsay 
with  twinkling  eyes, ' '  my  prescriptions  are  personal  mat- 
ters between  me  and  my  conscience.  The  idea  is  fetching, 
an  unappropriated  balance " 

' '  Hardly  unappropriated, ' '  remarked  Ned  caustically, 
"it  is  apparently  hypothecated — as  you  Scotch  call  it, 
doctor — to  philanthropy,  for  I  suppose  charity  mustn't 
begin  at  home. ' ' 

"  Why  not?  "  put  in  Ned.  "  There's  really  no  limita- 
tion of  object  or  time.  Any  of  us  may  withdraw  the 
deposit  to-morrow  without  notice  to  any  one,  if  he  pos- 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  9 

sess  a  solid  conviction  that — that  he  can't  do  without  it? 
Do  you  all  agree  ?  ' ' 

There  was  a  pause. 

"  It's  d — d  rot,"  said  Ted  Cruttenden  at  last  sulkily, 
"  but  on  those  conditions  I  agree." 

The  Reverend  Morris  Pugh  looked  abstractedly  over 
the  golden  haze  in  which  the  whole  world  was  hidden. 

' '  Money  is  the  root  of  all  evil, ' '  he  began. 

"  Bosh!  "  interrupted  Dr.  Ramsay,  springing  to  his 
feet.  ' '  I  'm  game !  I  shall  take  that  money,  if  some  of 
you  aren't  too  previous,  for  the  first  real  necessity " 

Ned  Cruttenden  sprang  to  his  feet  also,  and  laughed. 
"  So  will  I,  if  I  can  only  make  up  my  mind  as  to  what 
constitutes  a  '  real  necessity. '  ' ' 

The  two  stood  challenging  each  other,  then  the  red- 
brown  eyes  under  the  shaggy  bronze-red  eyebrows 
softened. 

*  *  Not  much,  I  '11  allow ;  very  often  bare  life. ' ' 

Ned  stooped  to  secrete  the  tobacco-pouch  murmuring, 
"  II  faut  vivre!    Pour  moi  je  n'en  vols  pas  la  necessite!  " 

Then  he  looked  up.  "  There  it  is,  gentlemen,  very 
much  at  your  disposal.  And  now,  namesake,  we  can  start 
fair — for  our  walk  to  the  first  blacksmith's  shop  any- 
how." 

Five  minutes  afterwards  the  golden  haze  had  usurped 
even  the  still  unrippled  pool  and  the  cleft  in  the  rock, 
while  the  four  young  men  on  the  downward  path  were 
lost  to  view  utterly, 


CHAPTER      II 

Owen  Jones,  who  in  his  leathern  apron  might  have  been 
a  moyen  age  smith,  looked  up  and  said  something  lengthy 
in  Welsh,  whereupon  the  eager,  alert  little  crowd,  which 
had  gathered  round  on  the  chance  of  a  new  emotion, 
echoed  something  else  in  Welsh,  smiled,  nodded,  and 
looked  sage. 

"  Well,"  said  Ted  impatiently. 

The  smith  having  no  English,  the  office  of  translator 
was  taken  up  by  Morris  Pugh,  who,  with  a  certain  appro- 
priative  courtesy,  had  shown  them  all  the  beauties  of  the 
way  with  pardonable  pride,  informed  them  effusively  and 
charmingly  of  his  past  life,  his  present  opinions,  told 
them  of  his  widowed  mother  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  of  his 
clever  young  brother  whose  ambition  was  Parliament  with 
a  thrill  of  pride  in  his  voice,  and  had  finally  introduced 
them  formally  to  the  smith  as  an  elder  of  his  chapel. 

"  In  about  half-an-hour  they  will  be  ready,  he  says; 
and,  see  you,  Owen  Jones  is  an  excellent  workman,  in- 
deed." Here  he  raised  his  voice  and  looked  round  for 
approval.    ' '  None  better,  I  am  sure. ' ' 

"No!  Indeed,"  assented  Isaac  Edwards,  who,  another 
elder,  had  come  from  his  merchant's  shop  over  the  way 
to  help  on  the  general  interest, ' '  there  will  be  none  better 
than  Owen  Jones  from  Pembroke  to  Pwlhelli!  " 

The  largeness  of  this  proposition  suited  the  hearers.  It 
reflected  credit  on  themselves,  their  clan,  their  country; 
so  the  quarrymen  off  duty  from  their  piles  of  slaty  shale 
among  the  oak  woods,  and  the  boys  off  school  this  Satur- 
day afternoon,  smiled  and  saluted  gwosz-military  fashion 
as  the  two  Cruttendens  moved  off  to  seek  tea  in  the  little 
inn,  where  a  Cycle  Club  sign  was  nearly  hidden  in  a 

10 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  H 

massive  cotoneaster — all  red  berries  and  white  blossoms — 
which  covered  the  walls  from  roadway  to  gable. 

Here  they  bid  good-bye  to  the  Reverend  Morris  Pugh  's 
good  offices.  He  was  due  ere  long  in  chapel  for  choir 
practice  and  prayer  meeting.  As  he  said  so,  the  unction 
came  into  his  voice  which  was  noticeable  whenever  he 
touched  on  his  profession.  It  was  as  if  some  necessity  for 
shibboleth  arose  in  him,  as  if  some  claim — not  altogether 
natural — had  to  be  considered.  Indeed,  he  had  lingered 
a  moment  to  say  that  prayer  was  needful  everywhere — 
even  in  the  peaceful  hamlet  of  Dinas — prayer  for  some 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit  this  Whitsuntide  week.  There 
had  been  no  special  manifestation  at  present,  but  one 
might  come  any  moment — the  Lord's  mercy  being  nigh 
to  all  them  that  feared  Him;  let  them  remember  that. 
So,  having  said  his  word  in  season,  he  changed  his  man- 
ner, wished  them  good  luck  heartily,  and  thus  left  them 
to  their  own  company;  for  the  Scotch  doctor,  who  had 
also  proved  a  pleasant  acquaintance,  had  branched  off  at 
the  bridge,  some  half  a  mile  up  the  hill  from  the  little 
hollow  in  which  Dinas  hid  itself  modestly  among  the 
trees.  But  you  could  see  where  the  bridge  lay,  because  of 
the  startling  red-and- white  school  beside  it,  which  looked 
as  if  it  had  sprung,  like  Diana  from  Jove's  brain,  fully 
armed  for  education  out  of  the  bare  hillside. 

Ted,  looking  through  the  inn  window  as  they  waited 
for  tea,  saw  it,  and  the  problem  as  to  why  it  had  been 
built  so  far  away  from  the  village,  a  problem  which  Mor- 
ris Pugh  had  evaded,  recurred  to  him. 

"  I  should  say,  because  the  site — belonged  to  some 
one, ' '  said  Ned  coolly.  ' '  These  things  will  happen — even 
to  Boards.  They  are  part  of  our  commercial  standard — 
caveat  emptor  I  And  in  this  case,  the  purchaser  being 
the  public — well,  we  don't  think  of  the  public  as  our 
neighbour.  No!  the  public  is  an  ill  dog  in  temperance 
Wales! — especially  amongst  the  Calvinistic  Methodists. 
The  parson,  though,  is  a  good  sort — he  didn't  fancy  the 
subject!  " 

"  Not  as  he  fancied  the  Welsh  motto  over  the  door," 


12  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

laughed  Ted.  ' '  By  George !  how  he  let  out  about  foreign 
languages  and  Wales  being  a  conquered  country.  I  had 
to  drop  reason  and  the  Norman  invasion,  or  there  'd  have 
been  a  row.  He  was  awfully  like  Ffluellen — what  a 
genius  Shakespeare  was." 

"  Yes!  He  understood,  and  you  don't.  I  tell  you, 
Wales  is  the  most  Rip-van-winkleish  place  in  the  world. 
You  can  go  to  sleep  in  a  fifteenth-century  farm  and  wake 
up  the  day  after  to-morrow  in  an  Intermediate  School. 
I've  been  in  India,  and  it  reminds  me  awfully  of  the 
National  Congress.  But  I  like  it,  though  it  is  fatiguing 
to  any  one  with  a  hankering  after  fact.  Still,  if  there 
was  a  little  more  water — there  is  none  in  summer  time, 
you  know — and  a  little  less  rain,  a  little  more  right,  and 
a  trifle  less  righteousness  it  would  do  very  well." 

"  Eighteousness !  "  echoed  Ted,  "  there's  enough  of 
that,  anyhow.  Two,  four,  six,  eight,  eight  belfries  to  how 
many  souls  in  the  village  ? — four  hundred  all  told  ?  ' ' 

"  That's  only  four  chapels;  the  others  are  Sunday 
schools,  I'll  bet — 'the  Macleods  must  have  a  boat  o'  their 
am.'  Then  there's  the  church — that  ruin  up  yonder — 
it'll  have  a  school  too " 

But  Ted's  attention  was  diverted.  "  I  say,"  he  re- 
marked, ' '  that 's  a  ripping  girl !  ' ' 

She  had  come  out  of  a  cottage  a  little  way  from  the  inn 
to  intercept  Morris  Pugh  and  was  engaging  him  in  a  live- 
ly conversation,  despite  his  hurry.  She  was  tall,  dressed 
in  black  that  glinted,  and  the  fact  that  her  hair  was  in 
curling  pins  did  not  interfere  with  her  very  voyante  good 
looks. 

"  H  'm !  "  remarked  Ned,  coming  over  to  see, ' '  reminds 
me  of  last  Monday — I  mean  Bank  Holiday!  Doesn't 
she?  " 

The  sarcasm  was  just,  but  it  brought  a  faintly-annoyed 
flush  to  his  companion's  face.  He  knew  himself  to  be  a 
lower  bred  man,  and  the  other  Edward  Cruttenden  had  a 
trick  of  reminding  him  of  this  and  of  certain  other  facts 
which,  given  fair  choice,  he  would  probably  have  for- 
gotten. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  13 

So  the  village  was  left  to  its  own  devices  till  tea  was 
over,  when  he  took  his  pipe  to  the  window  again. 

"  Barring  the  prices,  which  whip  an  International  Ex- 
hibition/ '  he  remarked,  "  this  would  be  a  jolly  head- 
quarters spot.  That  big  hill — '  Eye  of  the  World/  the 
parson  called  it,  didn  't  he  ? — is  ripping !  ' ' 

This  time  the  word  lost  its  inherent  triviality  before 
the  dignity  of  those  receding  curves  of  sunshine  shown 
by  shadow,  which  swept  up  to  the  light-smitten  crest  of 
the  great  mountain. 

"  Personally,"  remarked  Ned  drily,  "  I  find  the  view 
of  the  smithy  more — Now,  don't ! — It  isn't  the  least  good 
fussing — it's  the  village  tea-time,  and  not  all  the  king's 
horses " 

But  Ted  and  his  bad  words  were  off  hammering  at  the 
closed  doors,  and  finally  running  the  smith  to  earth,  hav- 
ing tea  comfortably  on  an  oak  dresser  hung  with  lustre 
jugs.  It  was  a  very  small,  but  highly  decorated  cottage, 
this  of  the  smith,  showing  uneducated  artistic  cravings  in 
many  things,  in  a  harmonium,  endless  cheap  photograph 
frames,  china  enormities,  a  few  glazed  certificates  in 
Welsh  to  one  "  Myfanwy  Jones,"  and  here  and  there  a 
priceless  bit  of  Staffordshire  ware. 

Then  ensued  a  deadlock.  For  the  smith,  scenting 
coercion,  flared  up  instantly  in  Welsh,  and  Ted,  conscious 
of  breach  of  contract,  grew  abusive  in  English,  till  sud- 
denly from  above,  came  a  full,  high  voice.  ' '  I  will  come 
down  when  I  have  finished  dressing.  Pray,  sir,  accommo- 
date yourself  with  a  cup  of  tea." 

Then  followed  shrill  Welsh  exordiums  to  the  smith, 
which  resulted  in  a  cheerful  smile  as  he  reached  down 
another  cup. 

Ted  took  it,  also  a  piece  of  bread  and  butter,  feeling 
he  could  do  nothing  else,  and  as  he  sat  waiting,  the  fem- 
inine voice  continued  upstairs  a  conversation  which  ap- 
parently had  been  going  on  when  he  had  burst  into  the 
cottage,  though  he  had  been  too  ill-used  to  notice  it. 

"  If  you  do  not  want  the  hat,  Alicia  Edwards,  you  can 
oblige  by  replacing  in  the  box;  but  you  will  be  dowdy 


14  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

beside  the  other  girls  at  choir  holiday,  and  Mervyn  will 
not  look  at  you  twice.  No,  indeed !  And  it  is  bnt  one- 
and-twenty  shillings.  Dirt  cheap!  Be  wise  and  buy. 
See,  you  shall  have  it  for  a  pound,  and  you  can  pay  when 
you  marry  Mervyn. ' ' 

' '  Mary !  ' '  choked  a  softer,  more  emotional  voice. 
' '  Ah !  I  only  want  him  to  look  at  me.  Ah,  Myf anwy ! 
Do  you  think  he  could " 

1 '  If  you  do  not  care  for  the  height  in  front  you  can 
wear  it  hindside  before.  It  is  even  just  so  fashionable, ' ' 
went  on  the  first  voice,  regardless  of  sentiment.  "  Put 
it  on,  child,  and  don't  be  so  foolish.  What  is  a  pound,  and 
you  a  pupil  teacher  ?  There !  You  look  beautiful.  Now, 
give  me  my  hat  pins,  I  must  go  to  that  man  down- 
stairs. ' ' 

A  frou-frou  of  silk  petticoats  on  the  ladder  stairs  which 
led  up  from  a  corner  of  the  living  room  made  Ted  look 
round. 

He  saw,  first,  a  pair  of  many-strapped,  beaded  black 
shoes  with  superlatively  high  heels,  next,  an  interval  of 
trim,  black  openwork  stockings,  finally,  in  a  tourbillon 
of  laced  silk  flouncings,  over  which  it  let  down  a  trailing 
black  satin  dress,  a  vision,  in  which  Ted  at  once  recog- 
nised the  girl  in  curling  pins ;  or  rather  her  apotheosis, 
for  she  was  now  glorious  both  within  and  without. 

Her  beautiful  figure  was  literally  cased  in  a  tight 
bodice,  which  looked  as  if  she  must  have  been  melted  and 
run  into  it  ere  it  could  be  so  guiltless  of  wrinkles.  The 
heavy  lace  yoke  with  which  it  was  made  showed  the  white- 
ness of  her  skin  beneath  it;  a  whiteness  which  held  its 
own  against  the  double  row  of  false  pearls  about  her 
neck.  For  the  rest  she  was  planned,  laid  out,  developed 
in  exact  accordance  with  a  Paris  model  in  a  shop. 

In  one  hand  she  held  a  most  irresponsible  creation, 
which  Ted  almost  diagnosed  as  a  hat,  though  it  had 
neither  crown  nor  brim,  and  in  the  other,  a  perfect  sheaf 
of  long,  black-headed  pins. 

She  smiled  at  him  with  frank  favour  and,  saying  care- 
lessly, "  The  smith,  my  father,  will  attend  to  you,  sir, 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  15 

when  he  has  had  tea,"  passed  on  to  a  little  mirror  on  the 
wall,  placed  the  irresponsible  creation  on  her  tumultuous 
yet  disciplined  waves  of  hair  in  the  very  last  position  of 
which  any  sane  creature  would  have  dreamt,  and  pro- 
ceeded, apparently,  to  stick  the  long  pins  through  her 
head. 

Seeing,  however,  in  the  glass  Ted's  face  of  angry  con- 
sternation, she  flashed  round  on  him  tartly  yet  conde- 
scendingly. 

' '  It  is  no  use  trying  to  hurry  Dinas.  They  are  country 
people,  not  like  London  or  Blackborough.  This  is  not 
Williams  and  Edwards,  or  such  like  place,  I  can  tell 
you. ' ' 

The  name  of  the  biggest  drapery  firm  in  Blackborough 
gave  Ted  a  clue  to  some  of  his  perplexity. 

' '  I  see, ' '  he  said  slowly, ' '  that 's  how  you  come  to  be — 
you  are  in  the  shop,  of  course,  aren't  you?  " 

She  was  by  this  time  dexterously  rolling  back  her  veil 
preparatory  to  tieing  it  behind,  her  chin  held  down  to 
keep  it  in  position.  So  her  dark  eyes  had  full  play  as 
she  retorted  that  she  was.  Second,  in  fact,  in  the  mantle 
department — because  of  her  figure.  She  displayed  it 
lavishly  in  manipulating  her  veil,  smiling  the  while  at  her 
own  consciousness  of  perfection. 

Ted  smiled  also.  The  big,  bold,  beautiful  animal  was 
distinctly  fetching.  He  said  something  to  that  effect 
which  made  her  giggle. 

1 '  You  should  pass  your  time  coming  to  choir  practice, ' ' 
she  said,  challenging  him  again  quite  frankly,  when,  after 
much  shrill  Welsh  with  her  father,  the  latter  stuck  to 
two  hours  as  his  shortest  limit  for  repair.  "  I  sing  in 
chapel  when  I  am  on  holiday  still ;  my  music-master  was 
the  great  Taleisin — that  is  his  bard's  name,  of  course — 
and  Alicia  Edwards,  here,  has  won  so  many  times  in 
competition. ' ' 

The  last  sentence  introduced  a  girl  who  had  just  come 
downstairs,  with  a  display  of  white  lace  stockings  and 
thereinafter  a  blue  dress  surmounted  by  an  extremely 
smart  hat,  possibly  the  one  over  the  purchase  of  which 


IQ  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Myfanwy  Jones  had  spent  her  eloquence.  The  girl  was 
fair  and  pretty,  but  there  was  about  her  that  marked  lack 
of  personal  grip  on  her  surroundings,  which  is  so  notice- 
ably a  result  of  eleven  years  and  more  of  strict  Board 
School  life ;  for  Alicia 's  father  had  marked  her  out  as  a 
pupil  teacher  when  she  joined  the  infant  class  at  three. 
That  had  been  her  ambition  till  she  secured  the  position 
at  sixteen.  Now,  at  seventeen  ?  At  seventeen  she  blushed 
and  giggled  when  Myfanwy  went  on : 

"She  will  sing  with  Mervyn  Pugh,  our  minister's 
brother.  He  is  a  very  good  looking  young  man —  just  so 
good  looking  as  you. ' ' 

To  which  obvious  challenge  Ted  said  something  which 
changed  the  giggle  to  a  titter ;  after  which  he  left  them, 
feeling  a  trifle  uncertain  as  to  the  result  of  a  reference  to 
Ned. 

He  found  him  lying  flat  on  his  stomach  on  the  bridge 
which  spanned  the  stream  again  a  little  further  down  the 
village,  watching,  so  he  said,  for  even  a  shadow  of  a  trout 
in  the  deep  pool  below  it,  a  pool  which  after  the  long 
spring  drought  was  only  connected  to  the  next  one  by  a 
mere  driblet  of  water. 

"  Do  ?  "  echoed  Ned,  looking  up  at  Ted  with  a  twinkle 
in  his  eyes.  ' '  Excelsior,  of  course. ' '  He  waved  his  pipe 
towards  the  "  World's  Eye,"  still  shrugging  high  should- 
ers in  the  sunshine,  and  away  from  Miss  Myfanwy  Jones, 
who  was  standing  with  Alicia  Edwards  at  the  gate  of 
her  father's  neglected  cabbage-patch,  buttoning  her  grey 
suede  gloves  with  a  hook  from  her  silver  chatelaine.  Her 
face  showed  beautiful  unconsciousness,  though  her  eyes 
were  on  the  alert. 

Ted  hesitated ;  then  from  a  larger  cottage  emerged  the 
Keverend  Morris  Pugh,  very  spick  and  span,  accompanied 
by  a  younger  man,  evidently  by  his  looks  the  handsome 
Mervyn.  But  the  forehead  fringe  which,  after  the  fash- 
ion of  young  Wales,  he  wore,  was  too  much  for  Ted.  It 
looked  exactly  as  if  it,  also,  had  been  in  a  curling  pin, 
and  feeling  vaguely  that  he  would  rather  not  be  seen  by 
Ned  in  its  company,  he  laughed,  said  "  Excelsior,  by  all 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  17 

means, ' '  and  led  the  way,  taking  off  his  hat  to  the  charmer 
as  he  passed. 

Five  minutes  afterwards,  pausing  for  breath,  their 
first  spurt  upwards  done,  the  village  lay  behind  them, 
looking  solitary  in  its  close  cohesion  of  cottages  and 
trees. 

But  from  the  church,  all  ivy-mantled  amid  its  wide 
graveyard,  a  bell  was  clanging,  and  across  the  grassy 
mounds  dotted  with  stones,  a  tall  figure  in  a  black  cassock 
and  a  biretta  cap  made  its  way  to  the  vestry  door. 

' '  The  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness, ' '  remarked 
Ned,  "  but  he  has  the  bell  ringer  for  congregation,  and 
even  Miss  Myfanwy  Jones  will  come  back  to  the  old 
churchyard  in  the  end,  as  her  fathers  have  done,  for  a 
penny  funeral. ' '  Then  he  laughed.  ' '  I  shall  never  for- 
get my  Scotch  groom "  he  paused.     Ted  eyed  him 

curiously. 

"  Well?  "he  said. 

1 '  Oh,  nothing !  only  his  criticism  on  a  Welsh  funeral 
was  scathing.  '  There  was  no  a  drop  o'  whisky,  an'  they 
asket  me  tae  pit  inter  the  brod !  '    Insult  on  injury !  ' ' 

So,  laughing,  they  made  their  way  upwards,  through 
black  land  and  bog,  through  thickets  of  unimaginably  tall 
brake,  and  over  sparse  close-bitten  knolls,  the  sheep  fly- 
ing in  disorder  from  them  like  a  routed  army,  a  stonechat 
starting  from  the  gorse  giving  them  a  momentary  thought 
of  game — a  thought,  no  more.  And  the  sunshine  mounted 
with  them,  chased  by  the  shadow,  so  that  it  came  upon 
them  by  surprise  when  they  reached  the  summit  to  see  the 
valley  below  them  veiled  in  soft  purple,  and  the  sun  itself 
not  far  from  setting  behind  an  ominous  low  level  of  cloud 
which  lay  far  out  to  seaward. 

11  It  has  taken  longer  than  I  thought,"  said  Ned, 
stretching  himself  flat  on  his  stomach,  "  but  there  is 
plenty  of  time." 

' '  Plenty, ' '  echoed  Ted,  cross-legged  like  a  Turk  as  he 
knocked  out  the  ashes  of  his  pipe  on  a  stone. 

"  We've  done  the  ginger-beer  woman,  anyhow,"  re- 
marked Ned  after  a  pause.     "  She  comes  there,"  he 


18  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

pointed  to  a  hovel  of  stones  a  few  hundred  yards  further 
along  the  plateau,  "  from  the  Llangolley  side;  seven  a.m. 
till  seven  p.m.  during  tourist  time,  the  innkeeper  said.  I 
wonder  how  she  spends  her  day?  "  Then,  half  to  him- 
self, he  added,  "As  if  this  wasn't  meat  and  drink  enough 
for  any  one." 

It  should  have  been.  Far  and  near,  cleft  by  the  pur- 
pling shadow  from  below,  the  higher  hill-tops  dissociated 
themselves  from  the  lower  ones,  shining  rosy,  resplendent, 
giving  back  the  sun  its  parting  gift  royally,  yet  yielding 
bit  by  bit  to  the  swift  storming  uprush  of  shadow.  An- 
other, and  another  picket  of  light  stood,  broke,  fled  from 
the  foe  to  some  higher  refuge,  until  the  last  steadfast  post 
of  the  ' '  World 's  Eye  ' '  remained  alone  above  a  world  of 
shadow.  Remained  alone,  a  vantage-ground  of  clear 
vision,  above  the  wide  cup  of  amethyst  hills  in  which  the 
flood-tide  of  the  sea  lay  prisoned.  So  still,  so  serene,  so 
silvery,  lulled  to  unresisting  sleep,  as  a  captive  bride 
might  be,  by  love  for  the  surpassing  beauty  of  those  em- 
bracing arms.  Beyond,  over  the  broad  belt  of  darkening 
ocean,  the  sun  was  just  dipping  into  the  bar  of  cloud, 
leaving  a  flame  upon  the  sky. 

"  We  must  wait  and  see  the  last  of  it,"  said  he  upon 
the  grass  suddenly,  and  the  other  nodded. 

Up  and  up  breathlessly  crept  the  light.  On  the  patch 
of  bracken  in  the  hollow,  rallying  round  a  spur  of  rock, 
flying  for  a  fresh  stand  across  a  shaly  slope,  so  holding 
its  own  for  an  instant  against  a  scarp,  driven  over  the 
ledge!  Ned's  hand  went  out  to  touch  it,  but  found  it 
behind  him;  so,  turning  swiftly  he  saw  the  last  flicker 
of  sunlight  resting,  ere  final  flight,  on  a  yellow  placard — 

1  l  Ginger  beer,  6d. ' ' 

He  started  to  his  feet.  ' '  Damn  it  all !  ' '  he  cried, 
"  fancy  finding  that  ultimate  sixpence  here!  " 

"  Sixpence?  "  queried  Ted,  rousing  himself  from  a  day 
dream.     ' '  Ah !  I  was  thinking  of  the  hundred  pounds 

you  left  over  yonder.    It  really  is  d d  rot,  you  know. 

What's  to  hinder  my  claiming  it — well — say  to-morrow 
morning?  " 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  19 

"  You've  time  now  if  you  wish  it,"  assented  Ned, 
"  and  if  the  thunderstorm " 

As  he  spoke  there  came  a  quiver  of  light  far  out  over 
the  hidden  sea.  It  seemed  to  come  from  below  the 
threshold  of  the  visible  world,  like  the  sudden  gleams 
from  the  beyond,  which,  at  times,  irradiate  the  mind  of 
man  with  some  infinite  message. 

Ted  turned  round  startled  at  the  greyness  that  was 
fast  settling  down  on  hill  and  sky.  ' '  We  had  better  get 
down  as  sharp  as  we  can,"  he  cried  hastily,  taking  his 
bearings.  ' '  I  think  if  we  try  to  the  left  a  little  we  shall 
get  down  the  rocky  part  before  dusk  makes  going  diffi- 
cult." 

Once  again,  however,  the  short  cut  proved  the  longer 
way.  The  path  grew  more  and  more  hopeless,  until  after 
scrambling  down  an  almost  precipitous  corrie  they  found 
themselves  brought  up  on  a  jutting  spur,  by  a  thirty  feet 
drop  as  the  only  onward  way. 

"  It's — it's "  muttered  Ted,  as  he  satisfied  himself 

they  must  go  back. 

"  Worth  it,"  remarked  Ned;  for  the  jag  of  rock  on 
which  he  stood  overhung  a  wilderness  of  grey  shadow  and 
grey  water ;  the  grey  hills  watching  the  grey  water  recede 
from  the  shores,  leaving  behind  it  still  greyer  patches  of 
sand  that  rose  roundly  from  the  level  reaches  of  the 
ebbing  tide. 

He  stood,  long  after  Ted  had  started  upward,  watching 
also,  and  thinking  how  like  these  billowy  sand-banks  were 
to  a  drowned  woman's  clothes.  Some  goddess  of  the 
earth,  surely,  lay  dead  there,  her  body  compassed  by  the 
hills. 

"  I  say!  Aren't  you  coming?  "  came  his  companion's 
shout.    ' l  We  haven 't  time  to  lose.    Look  there !  ' ' 

A  vivid  flash  of  lightning  shot  beyond  the  deep  bank 
into  the  rolling  clouds  that  were  coming  up  swiftly  with 
the  rising  wind ;  and,  more  quickly  than  one  would  have 
expected,  a  low  mutter  of  thunder  caught  the  crags  in 
monotonous  echoes. 

"  Go  on!     I'll  soon  catch  you  up,"  shouted  Ned  in 


20  A-   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

return.  And  he  did  so ;  for  there  was  a  lightness,  a  cer- 
tain stress  of  action  about  his  every  movement  which  dif- 
ferentiated him  from  his  companion's  more  deliberate 
steadiness. 

The  wind  rose  at  every  gust,  and  in  the  fast  growing 
dusk,  the  sheep  sought  shelter  behind  rocks  and  boulders 
for  the  night. 

Yet  still  the  downward  path  could  not  be  found. 

' '  We  had  best  follow  the  stream  yonder, ' '  said  Ned  at 
last.  ' '  It  will  be  longer,  but  it  will  take  us  down  eventu- 
ally, and  I  don't  want  to  camp  out  with  my  pipe  in  that 
storm. ' ' 

The  first  drop  or  two  of  rain  emphasised  his  advice; 
but  it  was  no  easy  task  to  follow  it  with  the  mist  closing 
in  on  all  sides.  Then  darkness  came,  bringing  a  perfect 
deluge  with  it.  They  could  scarcely  see  the  stones  at  their 
feet,  except  when,  with  the  sudden  summer  lightning,  the 
whole  world  of  hill  and  dale  and  sea  was  revealed  to  them 
for  a  second,  then  shut  out  again  as  if  in  obedience  to  the 
immediate  roll-call  of  the  thunder. 

But  they  were  young,  and  it  was  soft,  warm  rain; 
so,  with  many  a  slip  and  tumble,  and  many  a  laugh, 
they  made  way  somehow,  pausing  at  length  to  leeward 
of  a  large  rock  to  light  a  fresh  pipe  and  look  at  the 
time. 

"Half  past  ten!  "  exclaimed  Ted,  "who'd  have 
thought  it!  "  He  spoke  joyously,  for  his  pulses  were 
bounding  with  the  vitality  due  to  the  exercise  of  mind 
and  body. 

"  I  should,"  replied  Ned;  "I'm  beastly  hungry. 
However  " — here  a  brilliant  flash  gave  them  the  world 
again,  "  I  believe  that's  the  bottom  down  there." 

The  vision  of  a  stream  in  flood  surging  through  a  low- 
lying  wooded  valley  not  far  beneath  them,  was  certainly 
the  bottom,  but  it  was  nearer  twelve  o  'clock  than  eleven 
ere  they  found  level  footfall,  and  that  only  on  the  brink 
of  the  stream. 

To  cross,  or  not  to  cross  became  the  question.  They 
referred  it  to  the  next  flash  of  lightning ;  a  long  wait  in 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  21 

the  darkness,  for  the  storm  was  passing,  the  rain  had 
ceased. 

When  it  came,  it  showed  them  an  oasis  of  field,  a  clump 
of  trees,  and  something  amongst  them  which  might  or 
might  not  be  a  human  habitation.  The  point  was  settled, 
however,  the  next  moment  by  the  sudden  twinkle  of  a 
wandering  light  quite  close  on  the  other  side.  It  stopped 
dead  at  their  view  halloo,  then  retreated,  evidently  at  a 
run,  to  reappear,  nevertheless,  almost  immediately  in 
company  with  a  remonstrant  voice,  clear,  pleasant, 
decided. 

"  Boggles!  "  it  said.  "  There  ain't  no  sech  things  as 
boggles!  I've  told  'ee  so  a  dozen  times,  Adam,  and  I 
won't  'ave  it  said.    So  there!  " 

"  Why,  Martha,  woman,  I'm  none  fur  savin'  'twas 
boggles,  fur  sure,  it  might  'a  bin  a  screech  howl,  but — 
Lud  'elp  us!— what's  that?  " 

The  light  was  evidently  snatched  at  and  held  aloft. 
Then  it  came  forward  a  step,  and  the  voice  rose  in  angry 
scorn. 

"  Get  yer  gone,  you  lazy,  good-f or-nothin '  Welsh 
libe'tynes.  I  tell  you  she's  gone,  and  right  glad  was  I 
to  get  quit  o'  her.  An  impident  lass,  that  friv'lous,  her 
'ead  wouldn't  'old  nothing  but  you  young  sparks." 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  called  Ned,  interrupting  the 
flow  of  wrath,  "  but  we  have  lost  our  way,  and  being 
drenched  through,  want  to  know " 

' '  Well,  I  never !  ' '  came  the  voice,  its  owner  grasping 
the  situation  at  once.  ' '  Here,  Adam,  man,  take  the  light 
an'  show  the  gentle  folk  across  the  ford,  an'  I'll  just  run 
back  and  see  to  things." 

Five  minutes  later,  escorted  by  an  apple-cheeked  man 
of  about  fifty,  they  were  entering  a  cottage  where  the 
fire  had  evidently  been  newly  brushed  up,  a  kettle  put 
on,  and  a  few  hurried  touches  added  to  already  existing 
tidiness  by  an  apple-faced  woman  forty  or  thereabouts. 

She  bobbed  them  a  truly  primeval  curtsey. 

"  Dear  sakes,  gentlemen,  you  must  be  through  to  your 
vests.     Adam,  set  a  cheer  for  the  gentle  folks,  man. 


22  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Adam  and  me  was  just  after  the  hi'fer,  sir,  she's  down 
calvin',  an'  they  lays  like  lead  on  me  till  it's  over,  that 
they  do.  An'  Adam  is  such  a  heavy  sleeper,  but  there! 
Two  of  a  sort  can't  live  together,  no,  they  can't." 

This  calm,  philosophic  treatment  of  him,  brought  a 
half-conscious  giggle  from  Adam,  and  she  passed  on  to 
treat  of  other  subjects  in  like  manner.  "  The  village, 
h'm,  not  much  of  a  place  for  sleepin'  in,  an'  a  good  mile 
anyhow,  with  the  bridge  locked.  Better  a  hayloft  to 
yourself  than  some  of  them  cottages.  As  for  supper, 
they  wouldn't  get  nothin'  fit  for  gentle  folk  to  eat.  She 
could  see  what  she'd  got,  an'  meanwhile  Adam'd  show 
them  the  loft,  and  bring  'em  over  pillows  an'  blankets; 
they'd  dry  easy  in  the  hay,  while  the  clothes  hung  'andy 
on  the  rafters,  or  Adam  could  bring  'em  back  to  the  fire 
when  he  tuk  over  supper,  not  but  what  it  was  perhaps 
better  to  'ave  somethin'  to  put  on  in  case  o'  fire!  " 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  afterwards,  having  made  a  most 
excellent  meal  of  cold  beefsteak  pie  and  tea,  which,  they 
were  assured,  was  "  better  to  keep  a  chill  off  than  beer," 
they  duly  put  out  the  lantern,  with  which  they  had  been 
bidden  "to  be  real  careful  because  of  the  yay,"  and 
listened  to  the  clear,  dispassionate  voice  saying,  as  its 
owner  passed  the  loft — 

"  You  go  ter  yer  bed,  Adam,  an'  sleep  while  you  can. 
She's  passed  midnight,  and  it  wunt  come  now  till  dawn; 
but  I  ain't  the  mind  to  sleep.  They  lies  too  heavy,  poor 
dears. ' ' 

"  That  woman,"  said  Ned,  from  his  blanketed  bed  in 
the  hay,  "  ought  to  have  been  a  Field  Marshal  or  a 
Prime  Minister." 

There  was  absolute  conviction  in  his  voice. 


CHAPTER  III 

They  found  the  summer  sun  had  been  at  work  for  some 
hours  on  the  storm-drenched  world  ere  they  woke  to  the 
lowing  roar  of  the  heifer  from  the  neighbouring  cow- 
house. Motherhood  had  evidently  come  to  her  at  dawn, 
bringing  its  wider  outlook,  its  larger  self;  and  sure 
enough,  when  they  scrambled  down  from  the  loft,  they 
found  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  penned  in  by  an  old 
door,  a  big,  black  bull-calf  lustily  answering  anxiety  by 
assertion. 

The  cottage  over  against  them,  however, — it  formed 
part  of  a  long  range  of  farm-steadings,  which  stretched 
right  away  to  the  stream  they  had  crossed  the  night 
before — showed  no  sign  of  life.  The  door  was  closed, 
the  window-blinds  down;  the  inmates  were  most  likely 
sleeping  sound  after  their  broken  rest. 

So,  their  clothes  being  still  damp,  the  two  young  men 
went  up  stream  to  a  long,  deep  pool,  and  spreading  them 
out  to  dry  in  the  hot  sunshine,  had  a  morning  bath, 
thereinafter  drying  themselves  in  the  same  fashion  on 
a  grassy  bank,  whence,  looking  up  the  valley,  they  could 
see  the  mountains  closing  in  on  the  narrow  strip  of  level 
pasture.  Behind  them,  the  downward  view  was  abso- 
lutely shut  out  by  the  farm-buildings,  above  which 
showed  a  yew  tree,  and  by  a  dense  clump  of  rhododen- 
drons, which  trended  away  until  it  met  the  other  wooded 
hillside  of  the  little  glen. 

"  I  believe  we  are  really  on  an  island,"  remarked 
Ted,  critically  appraising  the  values  of  some  willows  and 
elders  which,  higher  up  beyond  the  pasture  fields,  seemed 
to  betoken  another  channel  of  water. 

"  A  desert  island,"  said  Ned,  busy  over  the  intricacies 

23 


24  4    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

of  cold  water  and  a  razor  from  his  shoulder-wallet. 
"  We  are  reduced  to  the  makeshifts  of  primitive  man- 
hood. What  more  do  we  want? — and  all  without  that 
hundred  pounds!  I  never  slept  better  than  I  did  in 
that  hay." 

"  Small  blame  to  you  with  feather  pillows  and  best 
Whitney  blankets !  And  as  for  money — we  shall  have  to 
tip  these  people.     I  suppose  half-a-crown  will  do " 

"  Ahem,"  replied  Ned  somewhat  doubtfully;  "  but  it 
was  beastly  late,  you  know." 

"  Very;  but  that  wasn't  our  doing:  they  were  up 
with  the  '  hi'fer.'  However,  let's  put  it  at  three  shil- 
lings." 

"  But,  my  dear  fellow,  consider  the  beefsteak  pie — 
it  was  simply  the  best  pie " 

"  Charge  it  to  appetite,"  said  Ted,  rising  ready 
dressed,  supple,  clean,  and  strong.  "  Three  shillings  is 
ample.  Come  along  if  you're  ready,  and  let  us  get  off. 
I  'm  keen  to  start. ' ' 

He  looked  it;  but  the  starting  was  not  so  easy,  for 
though  on  trial  the  door  of  the  cottage  was  found  to  be 
on  the  latch  only,  no  one  could  be  made  to  hear. 

"  Let's  leave  the  tip  on  the  table,"  suggested  Ted 
impatiently. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  replied  Ned,  "  I  won't  go  with- 
out seeing  the  '  General,'  and  thanking  her  for  that 
excellent  pie.  Besides — think  how  she  simply  scooped  us 
up  last  night  like  half-drowned  kittens  and  set  us  going 
again !  I  tell  you,  sir,  that  if — it  being  Saturday  night 
— she  had  suggested  washing  my  head,  I'd  have  sub- 
mitted meekly,  as  I  used  with  old  nurse.  Why !  I  dreamt 
about  frilled  drawers  all  last  night!  " 

Ted  was  irresponsive;  a  word  had  arrested  his  at- 
tention. "  Saturday!  "  he  echoed  thoughtfully,  "  then 
to-day  is  Sunday!  " 

' '  First  Sunday  after  Whitsun — No !  Trinity  Sunday, 
of  course,  the  shortest  night  in  the  year  and  Midsummer 
Night's  Dream  all  combined.    How  time  flies.  ..." 

"  What  luck!  "  gloomed  Ted.    "  I  shouldn't  wonder 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  25 

if  the  smith  were  to  refuse  us  our  cycles — they  are  like 
that  in  these  wild  parts — what  beastly  bad  luck!  " 

Here  Ned,  who  had  been  prospecting  at  the  back  of  the 
passage,  opened  a  door,  suspecting  it  to  be  possibly  a 
coal-cellar;  but  he  fell  back  from  the  sudden  blaze  of 
almost  blinding  sunlight  which  poured  in  from  a  long, 
low,  absolutely  empty  room,  which  stretched  away  on 
either  side  over  boards  scrubbed  to  whiteness  to  a  wide 
oriel  window. 

At  that  on  the  left-hand  side  stood  a  parrot-perch, 
beside  which  was  a  tall  girl  in  blue  engaged  in  making  a 
white  cockatoo  with  a  yellow  crest  talk. 

"  Gimme  a  sixpence,"  it  muttered  hurriedly  as  the 
bit  of  banana  turned  away  with  the  girl  at  the  inter- 
ruption. 

So  for  a  second  or  two  they  stood ;  the  two  young  men 
smitten  helpless  by  the  extreme  beauty  of  that  girlish 
figure,  framed  as  it  was  by  the  great  sprays  of  white 
June  clematis  and  great  trusses  of  scarlet  ivy  geranium 
from  the  garden  beyond  the  window. 

"  Gimme  a  sixpence,  gimme  a  sixpence/'  reiterated 
the  cockatoo  in  guttural  allurement.  Then  the  girl 
smiled. 

"  You  must  have  been  very  wet  last  night,  I'm 
afraid,"  she  said  in  an  absolutely  perfect  voice,  true, 
pure,  sweet ;  the  real  voice  of  the  siren,  which  none  who 
hear  forget. 

The  two  at  the  door,  who  stood  bare-headed,  almost 
doubting  the  evidence  of  their  own  eyes,  gave  an  audible 
sigh  of  relief.  This  was  no  vision  then,  this  beauty  of 
womanhood  pure,  and  simple,  with  softly  smiling  eyes. 

And  yet  ?  They  glanced  at  each  other  doubtfully,  and 
the  three  shillings  in  Ted's  palm  seemed  suddenly  to 
become  hot  and  scorch  him.  Impossible  to  offer  three 
shillings  to  perfection ! 

"  Thank  you,  yes — I  mean  no — I  mean  that  we  were 
wet,  quite  wet — but  now  thanks  to  the  kindness  of 
your "  Ned  paused.  Much  as  he  admired  "  the  Gen- 
eral," he  could  not  affiliate  to  her  this  radiant  creature. 


26  &    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Ted,  becoming  conscious  vaguely  that  here  was  some- 
thing new  to  him,  something  which  held  possible  danger 
to  his  outlook  in  life,  remembered  his  hurry  and  came 
to  the  point. 

' '  We  are  very  much  obliged,  and  so,  if  you  please,  as 
we  are  about  to  start,  we  should  like — I  mean  if  you " 

Here  absolute  terror  lest  Ted  should  really  offer  those 
three  shillings  to  the  glorious  creature  in  the  first  flush 
of  a  womanhood  which  seemed  to  Ned  to  be  worth  the 
whole  world,  made  him  step  forward,  holding  out  a  shin- 
ing sovereign. 

"  We've  really  been  most  awfully  comfortable, ' '  he 
said  apologetically,  "  and  if  you — if  you  wouldn't  mind 
giving  this " 

"  Why!  "  she  exclaimed,  all  eagerness,  snatching  at 
the  coin,  "  I  believe  it's  a  sovereign!  Fancy  that!  A 
whole  sovereign!  " 

Ned  felt  outraged  at  her  indecent  haste;  and  at  the 
back  of  Ted's  brain  lay  an  instant  regret  concerning  the 
three  shillings ;  he  would  then  only  have  been  responsible 
for  one  and  sixpence  instead  of  ten  shillings. 

Suddenly  she  held  the  coin  up  to  the  window,  laughed 
— a  rippling  laugh  like  running  water — and  handed  it 
back  again.  "  Thanks  for  letting  me  see  it;  I  hadn't 
seen  one  before,  but,  as  grandfather  says,  it  blocks  the 
sunlight  just  like  a  penny!  " 

"  You — you  hadn't  seen  a  sovereign!  "  said  Ned 
feebly. 

She  shook  her  head.  ' '  We  don 't  have  money  in  this 
house.    Grandfather  doesn't  hold  with  it." 

' '  Not  hold  with  it !  "  echoed  Ted  argumentatively. 
' '  But  you  must — you  must  pay  your  debts ;  and  we  want 
to  pay  ours." 

Her  face  grew  serious.  ' '  Ah !  you  want  to  pay  some- 
thing. That's  Martha's  business.  Here!  Martha! 
These  gentlemen  want  to  pay  you  a  sovereign." 

At  an  inner  door  the  figure  of  "  the  General  "  ap- 
peared with  floury  arms  and  her  prim  bob  curtsey. 

"  Hope  the  hi'fer  didn't  disturb  of  you,  gentlemen," 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  27 

she  said  cheerfully;  "  but  really  there  ain't  nothing 
owin',  let  alone  a  sovereign's  worth." 

"  But  there  must  be  something;  and  we  tried  to  find 
you  before,  but  you  were  asleep,"  protested  Ned  in  an 
aggrieved  tone. 

1 '  Asleep  !  Lord  save  us !  "  laughed  Martha.  ' '  Why ! 
Adam  bein'  that  sound  after  the  calvin',  I  was  over  to 
the  loft  myself  three  times  afore  I  come  in  to  my  stove. 
But  there  ain't  nothin'.  The  yay  was  'ome  grown,  and 
welcome,  seeing  'twas  but  beddin '  stuff  at  best,  and  none 
spoilt  for  use  by  humans  sleep  in '  on  it. "  A  faint  chuckle 
showed  her  sense  of  superiority. 

1 '  But  there  was  the  beefsteak  pie, ' '  began  Ned. 

Martha's  giggle  increased.  "  'Twouldn't  never  'ave 
kep'  sweet  over  Sunday,  sir,  so  the  pigs  'ud  'ave  'ad  it 
if  you  gentlemen  'adn  't. ' ' 

That  was  an  unanswerable  argument. 

"  Will  you  please  take  it  back,"  said  the  girl  im- 
periously, holding  the  gold  out  in  the  easy  clasp  of  her 
finger  and  thumb. 

"  But  there  was  the  tea — and  the  pillows  and  the 
blankets,"  protested  Ted  severely. 

She  turned  on  him  swiftly.  ' '  Don 't  you  hear  Martha 
doesn't  want  it,  and  I  don't  want  it.  So  if  you  don't 
want  it  also,  we'd  better  give  it  to  Cockatua,  for  I'm  tired 
of  holding  it.  Here,  Cockatua,  is  a  golden  sovereign 
for  you." 

The  bird's  great  yellow  crest  rose  with  greed  as  it 
grabbed  at  the  prize,  but  fell  again  at  its  first  hasty  bite. 
The  beady  black  eyes  showed  distrust;  it  turned  the 
coin  round,  and  bit  at  it  again;  then  again.  Finally, 
with  a  guttural  murmur  of  "  Gimme  a  sixpence,"  it 
dropped  the  sovereign  deliberately  into  its  bread  and 
milk  tin. 

Every  one  laughed,  Martha,  however,  checking  herself 
with  a  hasty  "  Drat  them  scones;  they'll  be  burnt  as 
black  as  the  back  o '  the  grate, ' '  and  disappearing  whence 
she  came,  her  voice  calling  back  in  warning  to  Miss  Aura, 
not  to  forget  the  master 's  message. 


28  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

11  Aura?  "  questioned  Ned  quickly.  "  That's  not  a 
very  appropriate " 

' '  My  name  is  Aurelia, ' '  she  said  quite  frankly,  ' '  and 
the  message  is  that  grandfather  would  like  you  to  break- 
fast with  him.  I  think  you  had  better, ' '  she  added  still 
more  frankly,  "  for  you  mightn't  get  anything  in  the 
village.    It's  Sunday,  you  know." 

They  glanced  at  each  other  mechanically,  though  each 
had  decided  to  accept  the  invitation.  So  she  led  them 
through  the  kitchen,  where  Martha  was  bustling  about 
over  her  stove,  into  a  hall.  This  further  house  had  evi- 
dently been  joined  on  to  the  back  of  the  cottage  by  the 
long  room  in  which  the  cockatoo  lived. 

1 '  We  breakfast  in  the  verandah, ' '  said  Aurelia,  turn- 
ing to  the  left  into  a  large  low-roofed  room,  lined  from 
floor  to  ceiling  with  books,  but  containing  no  other  fur- 
niture save  a  chair  and  a  writing-table. 

The  glimpse  afforded  by  the  open  hall-door  showed  them 
that  Ted's  surmise  had  been  correct.  They  were  on  an 
island,  for  to  the  right  of  the  garden  a  stream,  after  dash- 
ing over  some  rocks,  disappeared  behind  the  high  wall  en- 
closing the  orchard  which  filled  up  the  end  of  the  valley, 
while,  as  they  passed  on  through  the  book  room,  a  lawn 
lay  before  them  sloping  down  to  a  deep,  still  pool,  a  pool 
shadowed  by  surely  the  biggest  yew-tree  they  had  ever 
seen.  Its  great  arms  spread  themselves  out,  and,  bowed 
to  earth  by  their  own  weight,  found  a  fresh  foothold  for 
another  upward  spring,  until  the  one  tree  seemed  a  grove. 

Here  in  a  sunny  square  formed  by  the  joining  of 
house  and  steading  walls,  they  found  a  breakfast-table, 
and  beside  it,  in  an  arm-chair,  an  old  man  with  a  thin 
face  and  Florentine-cut,  silver-white  hair. 

"  Excuse  my  rising,  gentlemen,"  he  said  in  a  high, 
suave  voice,  his  nervous  hands  gripping  the  chair-arms 
in  rather  a  helpless  fashion,  "  but  I  am  somewhat — 
more  or  less — of  a  cripple  at  times — I  suffer  from  rheu- 
matism, and  last  night's  rain " 

"  Might  have  made  us  rheumatic  also  but  for  your 
kindness, ' '  began  Ned  politely. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  29 

1 '  Not  at  all !  Not  at  all — Martha  does  all  that  sort  of 
thing  well — an  excellent  creature — really  an  excellent 
creature,  but  alas!  quite  devoid  of  intelligence,"  said 
their  host,  and  his  large,  restless,  pale  blue  eyes  which, 
from  the  smallness  of  his  other  features,  dominated  his 
face,  took  on  a  remonstrant  expression  that  was  curiously 
obstinate  yet  weak.  ' '  Yes !  "  he  continued,  ' '  absolutely 
devoid  of  brains.  One  of  those  hewers  of  wood  and 
drawers  of  water  by  desire  and  determination  who  stand 
so — so  infernally — in  the  way  of  true  socialistic  develop- 
ment. But,  by  the  way  I  am  forgetting  to  introduce  my- 
self.    I  am  Sylvanus  Smith,  President — but  stay ! 

Aurelia,  my  child,  fetch  the  Syllabus  of  the  Socialistic 
Congress  from  my  writing-table;  that  will  be  the  best 
introduction.  And  here  comes  Martha  with,  I  presume, 
breakfast.  We  generally  have  a  parlourmaid,  but  " — 
the  remonstrant  expression  came  to  his  face  again — 
' '  Martha  is  somewhat  hard  on  maids.  She — she  doesn  't 
believe  in  perfect  freedom  of  soul  and  body,  so  the  last 
left  yesterday  in — in  a  flame  of  fire !  The  young  men  of 
the  village " 

Ned  laughed.  ' '  We  know  about  that,  sir ;  we  were 
taken  last  night  for  "  lazy  good-for-nothin'  Welsh  li- 
bertynes.'  " 

Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  appeared  shocked.  "  I  really 
must  speak  to  Martha, ' '  he  said  in  an  undertone,  adding 
aloud,  "  Well,  Martha,  what  have  you  there?  " 

The  question  was  provoked  by  the  setting  down  of  a 
silver  dish  among  the  fruits,  nuts,  and  other  vegetarian 
diets  on  the  table,  and  there  was  a  certain  tremulous 
authority  in  it. 

The  subservience  of  Martha 's  bob  was  phenomenal. 

"  Bacin  an'  eggs,  sir,  an'  there's  more  ter  follow  if 
required. ' ' 

The  authority  dissolved  into  an  ill-assured  cough. 

"As  a  rule,"  remarked  Mr.  Smith  helplessly,  "  we 
do  not  allow  meat " 

1 '  But  lor !  sir, ' '  put  in  Martha,  beaming,  ' '  wasn  't  it 
jest  a  Providence  as  me  and  Adam  had  left  that  bit  o' 


30  A.    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

beefsteak  pie,  seeing  that  strawberries  an'  sech  like  are 
but  cold  comforts  to  stummicks  as  has  bin  drenched 
through  by  storm. ' ' 

There  could  be  no  reply  but  acquiescence  to  this  prop- 
osition, so  the  strangers  began  on  the  bacon  and  eggs. 
Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  breakfasted  off  some  patent  food, 
and  Aurelia  ate  strawberries  and  brown  bread,  and  drank 
milk;  they  seemed  to  have  got  into  her  complexion  and 
hair — at  least  so  thought  Ned. 

The  clematis  wreaths,  the  great  bosses  of  the  scarlet 
geraniums  hung  round  them,  the  great  yew-tree  shot  out 
fingers  of  shadow  claiming  the  lawn  and  actually  touch- 
ing one  of  the  jewelled  flower-beds,  while  behind  these, 
tall  larkspurs  and  lychnis,  their  feet  hidden  in  a  wilder- 
ness of  bright  blossom,  rose  up  against  the  rows  of  peas 
and  raspberries  in  the  kitchen  garden,  and  the  green  of 
young  apples  in  the  orchard. 

Against  this  paradise  of  flower  and  fruit  they  saw 
Aurelia,  like  any  Eve,  beautiful,  healthful,  gracious, 
smiling ;  and  they  lost  both  their  hearts  and  their  heads 
promptly — for  the  time  being,  at  any  rate. 

They  looked  at  her  by  stealth  in  the  long  silences 
which  were  perforce  the  fate  of  Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith's 
guests,  for  he  could  talk,  and  talk  as  he  wrote  well,  of  the 
future  of  Socialism,  and  the  happiness  of  the  many,  ob- 
livious altogether  of  the  happiness  or  unhappiness,  of 
the  few  that  was  being  worked  out  in  his  immediate 
neighbourhood.     That  did  not  trouble  him  in  the  least. 

Whether  from  happiness  or  unhappiness,  past,  pres- 
ent, or  to  come,  the  two  young  men  were  singu- 
larly silent  as,  after  being  piloted  by  Adam  through  the 
rhododendrons  and  across  the  drawbridge,  they  left  the 
island  paradise  behind  them. 

"  That  was  a  beautiful  garden,"  said  Ted. 

"  Very,"  remarked  Ned. 

Then  they  were  silent  again;  but  they  thought  per. 
sistently  of  Aurelia,  of  her  beauty,  her  unworldliness, 
her  curious  frank  dignity,  and  the  shrewd  common-sense 
she  had  shown  in  every  word  she  uttered. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  31 

The  road  to  the  village  led  through  a  wood  at  first ;  a 
wood — as  such  Welsh  mountain  woods  are  at  Midsum- 
mer— all  lush  with  fern  and  bramble  and  great  drifts  of 
foxglove  envious  of  each  other 's  height,  and  holding  their 
heads  higher  upon  the  narrowing  clefts,  until  some  very- 
ordinary  spike,  gaining  a  vantage  of  rock,  out-tops  the 
rest,  and  so  lords  it  over  all. 

Then,  after  a  while,  the  wooded  slopes  closed  in  to 
rock.  Here  the  divided  streams  rejoined  each  other  with 
a  quick  babble  of  recognition,  and,  as  if  out  of  sheer 
good  spirits,  gave  a  gladsome  leap  or  two  ere  settling 
down  to  race  hand  in  hand  through  a  ravine  but  a  few 
feet  below  the  curving  road. 

Finally  a  precipitous  bluff  blocked  the  view,  but  round 
this  at  a  sharp  turn  Ted  paused. 

"  Hullo!  "  he  said.     "  Why,  here  we  are  again!  " 

They  were  at  the  bridge  by  the  cross-roads  where  they 
had  parted  with  Dr.  Ramsay  the  day  before.  On  the  bare 
hillside  stood  the  school,  deserted  this  Sunday  morning ; 
below  them  lay  the  village.  Over  yonder  was  hidden 
the  hundred  pounds  of  floating  deposit — (Ted's  eyes 
sought  this  out  immediately.)  Over  there,  still  shrug- 
ging that  high  shoulder  of  his  in  the  sunshine,  was 
Llwggd-y-Brydd  disclaiming — so  Ned  thought — all  re- 
sponsibility for  their  last  night's  adventure.  A  real 
Midsummer  Eve 's  dream,  indeed !  And  to-night  ? — Mid- 
summer night — would  the  adventure  continue  ? 

"  It  was  two  o'clock,  was  it,  he  said,  for  dinner?  " 
asked  Ted  irrelevantly.  He  knew  the  hour  perfectly, 
but  he  wanted  to  discuss  the  question. 

1 '  Two  o  'clock  if  the  cycles  couldn  't  be  got, ' '  corrected 
Ned  gravely. 

"  Of  course,"  replied  Ted  impatiently,  "  and  we  will 
go  and  ask " 

Ned  suddenly  burst  out  laughing.  "  Why  the  deuce 
should  we  ask?  You'd  rather  dine  and  so  would  I. 
That 's  simplicity  itself ;  besides,  we  can  go  to  church  or 
chapel  and  confess  the  sin  of  omission  meanwhile — if 
you  like." 


32  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Ted  looked  at  him  with  gloomy  virtue.  "  Of  course 
we  must  ask — at  any  rate  I  shall, ' '  he  replied  haughtily. 
He  felt  in  his  way  exactly  as  his  companion  did,  that 
is,  as  if  every  atom  of  life  in  him  had  been  stirred  to 
its  depths;  but  conventional  morality  and  solid  fact 
meant  more  to  him  than  they  did  to  Ned. 

The  smith,  mercifully,  was  kind.  It  had  been  too 
late  to  finish  repairs  on  Saturday;  they  must  wait  over 
till  Monday. 

So,  in  a  blissful  state  of  relief,  they  sat  on  the  bridge 
parapet  again  and  watched  the  country  folk  come  in  to 
chapel. 

"  The  Calvinists  take  the  cake  in  dress,"  remarked 
Ned.  ' '  Half  the  big  drapery  shops  in  Blackborough  be- 
long to  them,  I'm  told,  and  they  give  a  percentage  to 
their  assistants.  So  I  expect  Miss — what 's  her  name  ? — 
Jones  is  responsible  for  half  the  hats  here.  Ye  gods !  what 
a  superstructure  for  one  soul !  "  As  he  spoke  he  watched 
a  carrotty-haired  girl  with  a  brick-red  burnt  face,  who 
wore,  both  inside  and  outside  a  leghorn  hat,  a  wreath  of 
crushed  roses  shaded  from  beetroot  to  carrots. 

"  Myfanwy,"  said  Ted  lightly,  "  is  equal  to  the  bur- 
den. Here  she  comes  with  the  parson,  and  Miss  Alicia 
has  the  beauty-boy  Mervyn.  How  happy  could  both  be 
with  either — I  wonder  how  they  grow  those  curls. ' ' 

He  spoke  with  lazy  scorn;  but  by  and  by  the  sound 
of  part-singing  instinct  with  swing  and  go  roused  him, 
for  he  had  sung  in  a  choir  all  his  life,  and,  after  vainly 
trying  to  persuade  Ned  to  accompany  him,  he  went  off  to 
listen,  leaving  the  latter  stretched  out  full  length  on  the 
parapet  watching  for  invisible  trout. 

After  a  time,  however,  the  old  churchyard  in  its  turn 
attracted  Ned's  lazy  interest,  and  he  strolled  off  to  ex- 
amine the  tombstones.  They  stood  cheek  by  jowl,  and 
to  judge  by  the  dates  on  many,  must  represent  a  perfect 
battlefield  of  dead,  if  all  the  parish  came  thither  to  rest. 
Some  lettering  over  a  low  round  arch  of  a  sunk  door  in 
the  church  arrested  him.  Fourteen  hundred  and  fifty- 
two!    No  wonder  the  place  looked  ruinous,  and  that  he 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  33 

had  to  step  down  into  the  porch !  Here  his  eye  took  in 
various  framed  regulations  in  red  and  black,  signed 
"  Gawain  Meredith,  Rector."  Evidently  the  Reverend 
Gawain  was  high.    And  was  that  a  smell  of  incense  ? 

He  set  aside  the  curtain,  and  stood  under  the  organ- 
loft.  Here  surprise  held  him  motionless.  Everything 
was  so  new,  so  gilded,  so  flawless.  There  was  a  blaze 
of  red  and  white  on  the  altar,  before  which  a  tall  figure 
in  red  and  white  attended  by  two  acolytes,  knelt  read- 
ing the  ante-communion  service.  From  them,  scat- 
tered sparsely  over  regulation  oak  benches,  was  a  sur- 
pliced  choir,  four  boys  on  either  side  coming  down,  as  it 
were,  to  meet  a  huge  brass  lectern  and  a  red  embroidered 
faldstool. 

But  the  congregation  ?  Six  or  seven  may  be  in  dark 
corners,  or  rather  since  some  one  must  play  the  organ, 
eight !  No !  for  the  celebrant,  after  giving  out  a  hymn, 
strode  to  a  harmonium  close  to  the  pulpit,  and  therein- 
after, upborne  by  his  strong  baritone,  a  long-drawn  sac- 
ramental chant  wavered  in  the  aisles,  and  died  away  in 
the  rafters  of  the  roof. 

What  then  of  the  organ?  Ned  turned,  crept  up  the 
stair  without  waking  an  old  man — the  bell-ringer  no 
doubt — who  was  asleep  in  his  long-accustomed  seat  be- 
side the  blow-handle,  and  found  himself  before  the  usual 
red-curtain  screen.  Seating  himself  on  the  organ  stool 
he  looked  out,  unseen,  on  the  church  below. 

It  was  quaint.  There  was  the  Reverend  Gawain  in 
the  pulpit  giving  out  his  text,  "  There  came  a  mighty 
rushing  wind,"  and  looking  out  over  his  church  as  if 
it  had  been  full  instead  of  empty. 

There  were  some,  said  the  preacher,  who  expected 
signs  and  wonders  direct  from  the  Almighty,  but  the 
great  rushing  mighty  wind  was  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  which  had  begun  on  Whit  Sunday  and  would  go 
on  throughout  the  year.  It  was  a  mighty  voice,  indeed, 
sounding  in  the  ears  of  all  his  parishioners,  even  those 
who  were  absent.  And  it  spoke  through  him,  their 
priest,  responsible  to  the  Church  for  the  soul  of  every 


34  A.    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

man,  woman,  and  child,  in  the  parish  of  Dinas.  Seven 
minutes,  by  Ned's  watch,  of  unbounded  authority,  of 
absolute  priesthood,  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Ned,  watching 
the  dignity  of  the  Reverend  Gawain  Meredith's  denial  of 
the  passage  of  Time  became  admiring.  And  he  was  such 
a  fine  figure  of  a  man.  The  old  type,  chief,  medicine 
man,  Druid,  Archbishop — Archangel  if  you  will — always 
the  same,  in  all  ages. 

Ned  wandered  off  into  thoughts  such  as  men  of  his 
type  have  had  since  the  beginning  of  time,  and  was 
roused  from  them  by  seeing  the  priest,  holding  a  huge 
sacrificial  brass  platter,  awaiting  the  sheepish  sidesman 
at  the  chancel  steps. 

By  all  that  was  holy ! — one  penny — only  one,  the  sides- 
man 's  own ;  but  its  poverty  was  covered  the  next  instant 
by  the  Rector 's  sovereign.    Well  done  to  the  Rector ! 

What  an  imagination,  what  a  magnificent  make-be- 
lieve. Something  in  Ned's  innermost  soul  leapt  up  to 
meet  this  escape  from  deadly  reality.  It  deserved  a 
recognition.  Yes !  as  the  man  couldn  't  play  himself  out 
of  church,  h  e  would — the  organ  was  there ! 

In  sudden  impulse  he  laid  an  awakening  hand  on  the 
drowsy  sexton.  ' '  Blow !  "  he  whispered  strenuously, 
"  Blow,  I  tell  you,  for  all  you're  worth." 

The  man,  half-asleep,  obeyed;  Ned  opened  the  key- 
board, and  not  knowing  his  instrument  put  on  full  dia- 
pason. Thus,  when  the  last  Amen  had  echoed  out  from 
the  Rector,  for  the  choir  appeared  to  be  dummies,  and 
the  cope  and  the  brass  platter  began  to  follow  the  little 
white  surplices,  the  whole  procession  paused  in  amaze- 
ment, as,  with  many  a  note  dumb,  many  a  dissonance 
overborne  by  the  full  burst  of  sound,  Handel's  "  Lift 
up  your  heads,  oh !  ye  gates, ' '  crashed  into  every  corner 
of  the  old  church.  Crashed  for  the  first  two  bars,  then, 
the  pressure  on  leaky  bellows  yielding,  wavered  and  sank. 

Ned,  realising  his  failure,  was  down  the  loft  stairs, 
through  the  graves,  and  over  the  back  of  the  churchyard 
wall,  where  he  lay  convulsed  with  inextinguishable 
laughter  at  his  own  mad  prank,  before  curiosity  followed 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  35 

the  amazement  in  the  church  as  the  last  breath  of  air 
escaped  in  a  long-drawn  pipe  from  a  stuck  note  in  the 
treble. 

It  was  some  time  ere,  seeing  the  chapel  folk  coming  out, 
he  made  his  way  round  at  the  back  of  the  Rectory  wood 
and  joined  Ted,  whom  he  found  enthusiastic  about  the 
singing,  and  glad  to  have  heard  the  Reverend  Morris 
Pugh's  "  hwl,"  the  bardic  note.  It  was  really  rather 
impressive,  that  constant  iteration  of  the  A-flat,  and  even 
to  one  ignorant  of  Welsh  gave  a  feeling  of  something 
being  desperately  wrong,  of  something  needing  desper- 
ately to  be  set  right. 

But  there  had  been  no  outpouring — nothing  out  of 
the  common. 

"  You  should  have "  said  Ned,  and  paused. 

"  What?  "  asked  Ted. 

"  Nothing,  except  that  it  must  be  about  time  for  us 
to  be  going  back — to  Paradise !  " 


CHAPTER  IY 

Aurelia  in  a  blessed  white  frock,  looking  like  a  Botti- 
celli angel,  was  in  the  garden  talking  to  old  Adam.  She 
received  their  half-hearted  apologies  for  return  with  a 
fine  superiority. 

"  Of  course/'  she  said,  "  we  all  knew  you  were  com- 
ing. Martha  was  unkind  enough  to  kill  a  beautiful 
white  chicken  for  you,  and  there  is  raspberry  tart,  and 
curds  and  cream.  Oh  yes!  and  I  made  a  sponge-cake 
for  tea.  So  you  ought  to  have  enough  I'm  sure.  Now, 
before  we  go  in,  I  do  want  to  find  my  Ourisia  coccinea, 
and  Adam  has  mislaid  it.  Now,  Adam,  do  think!  and 
please  don't  say  the  underground  mice  have  eaten  the 
label,  for  I'm  sure  they  haven't — it  would  be  a  miracle, 
you  know,  if  they  did." 

Here  she  turned  to  her  companions  with  shining  eyes. 

1 '  You  see,  Adam  believes  in  boggles  and  miracles,  and 
all  sorts  of  queer  things,  though  he  isn't  Welsh.  And 
to-day  there  was  a  miracle  in  church." 

"  A  miracle,"  echoed  Ned,  flushing  slightly  and  won- 
dering more. 

She  nodded.  * '  Yes !  The  organ  that  hasn  't  sounded 
a  note  for  ever  so  long,  played  of  itself,  or  rather  Grif- 
fiths Morgan,  the  sexton,  says  he  was  awoke  by  the  Arch- 
angel Gabriel." 

"  Nonsense,"  interrupted  Ned  with  spirit,  "  it — it 
couldn't  have  been " 

"  That  is  what  Adam  says,"  replied  Aurelia  smiling. 
' '  Adam !  tell  the  story  yourself. ' ' 

"  'Twain 't  much  story,  Miss  Aura,"  put  in  the  old 
gardener,  "  but  'twas  how  as  this.  Rector  he  bin 
preechin'  of  the  roarin',  rushin'  wynd,  an'  as  he  coombed 

36 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  37 

down  the  chauntrey  steps,  as  might  be  the  Pope  0'  Rome 
with  that  there  brass  platter,  it  let  loose  quite  suddint. 
A  wynd,  indeed,  a  rushin'  and  roarin',  an'  heavenly 
notes  all  a-dyin'  away  to  twanks  like  the  last  Trump. 
Folks  were  greatly  put  about,  even  passon  himself  didn  't 
know  what  to  make  on't  till  Griffiths  Morgan,  as  sleeps 
on  the  beller's  'andle  through  being  accustomed  to  it  as 
a  lad,  said  he  was  woke  and  bid  blow  by  the  Archangel 
Gabriel.  Whereupon  passon  give  it  'im  for  sleepin',  and 
says  as  he  must  a'  laid  on  the  notes  somehow;  but  I 
says,  says  I,  that  nothin '  but  true  miracle  'ud  ever  make 
the  broken-wynded  old  orgin'  give  out  sech  a  rare  'ol- 
lerin'." 

"  But  there's  no  such  thing  as  a  miracle,  Adam,"  de- 
clared the  girl,  and  the  next  moment  was  on  her  knees 
peering  into  an  aster  patch.  "  Why,  there  it  is,"  she 
cried,  "Oh!  Adam,  how  could  you?  " 

Adam  stooped  over  the  border  in  simulated  astonish- 
ment. 

"  Why,  drat  my  garters  "  (this  was  his  most  extreme 
form  of  words) .  "  So  be  it.  Well,  miss,  'tis  true  miracle 
how  that  pr'anniel  stuff  comes  up,  libel  or  no.  'Tis  the 
Lord 's  doings,  as  don 't  call  'em  by  name,  see  you. ' ' 

"  But  Adam  did,"  said  Ned,  relieved  as  the  necessity 
for  confessing  that  he  was  not  the  Archangel  Gabriel 
vanished  before  this  change  of  venue. 

"  What  Adam?  "  asked  Aura.  "  Oh!  I  suppose  you 
mean  the  one  in  the  Bible,  only  grandfather  doesn't  be- 
lieve in  it,  you  know.  It  couldn  't,  anyhow,  be  this  one, ' ' 
she  continued,  her  eyes  shining  with  laughter  once  more 
as  they  moved  across  the  lawn,  leaving  Adam  shaking 
his  head  over  the  Ourisia  coccinea,  "  for  when  he  digs 
my  borders  he  begins  by  collecting  all  the  tallies  into  a 
heap ;  then  he  puts  them  back  again  at  regular  intervals 
in  a  row.  It's  very  funny,  you  know,  but  terribly  con- 
fusing. Each  spring  I  have  to  rack  my  brains  to  think 
what  each  dear  thing  means  as  it  peeps  up.  Of  course, 
that  is  interesting  in  itself,  but  " — here  her  eyes  grew 
clearer,  lighter  as  she  looked  up  for  sympathy — "  it  is 


38  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

rather  sad  to  make  mistakes.  I  don't  like  dreaming  a 
campanula  is  white  when  it  is  blue,  blue  when  it  is 
white." 

"  I  think  one  is  as  beautiful  as  the  other,"  laughed 
Ted. 

"Yes!" — then  her  eyes  sought  Ned's — "but  it  is 
hard,  always,  to  lose  what  one  has  learnt  to  expect. ' ' 

He  smiled  back  at  her  but  said  nothing. 

So  as  they  strolled  over  the  grass,  she,  every  now  and 
again  giving  them  a  glimpse  of  the  secluded  busy  life 
she  led  (for  she  and  her  grandfather  never  went  into 
the  village  except,  perhaps,  to  judge  at  some  competi- 
tion concert)  the  bell  rang,  and  crossing  to  the  verandah 
they  found  Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  less  crippled  as  the  day 
went  on,  but  urbane  and  talkative  as  ever,  while  Martha, 
with  her  little  bob  curtsey,  was  waiting  to  take  off  the 
covers. 

And  they  feasted  like  kings  on  the  chicken  and  rasp- 
berry tart;  and  the  weak  rough  cider  which  Martha 
made,  and  Mr.  Smith  drank  for  his  rheumatism,  seemed 
to  get  into  their  heads  with  the  Wine  of  Life,  as  they  sat 
and  talked  and  watched  Aurelia  against  the  background 
of  flower  and  fruit. 

"Oh!  cupbearer!  save  the  Wine  of  Life,  what  gifts 
canst  thou  bring?  "  quoted  Ned  suddenly  under  his 
breath. 

"  A  fine  poet  Hafiz — a  very  fine  poet,"  remarked  Syl- 
vanus Smith,  who  appeared  to  have  read  and  remembered 
most  things,  "  but  he  lacks  the  true  human  spirit.  He 
fuddles  himself  into  content  with  mystic  unrealities,  and 
misses  the  great  individual  claim  of  each  soul  to  freedom 
and  equality.    So  unlike  Byron. ' ' 

"  Very,"  assented  Ned  dryly. 

Still  the  conversation  did  not  languish,  and  when  din- 
ner was  over  they  adjourned  to  another  large  room  op- 
posite the  library,  which  was  also  empty  of  all  things 
save  a  grand  piano,  an  arm-chair,  and  a  music  rest.  Here 
Ned  settled  himself  down  to  accompany  Ted  and  Aura  as 
they  sang,  and  finally,  with  apologies,  for  not  being  so 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  39 

much  at  home  on  the  piano  as  on  the  organ,  persuaded 
Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith,  who  turned  out  to  be  a  passed  mu- 
sician, into  trying  a  Brahms  sonata  for  piano  and  violin. 
And  here  Martha  coming  to  announce  tea  found  them 
still  happily  busy  over  the  great  piles  of  music  that  were 
ranged  along  the  wall. 

It  was  when  Ned  lingered  to  close  the  piano  that  Aura 
lingered  also  watching  him  quietly;  but  she  made  him 
start  and  blush  violently  by  saying  with  a  smile,  ' '  You 
were  the  Archangel  Gabriel,  weren't  you?  " 

Taken  aback  as  he  was,  his  eyes  met  hers  with  a  reflec- 
tion of  their  confidence.  ' '  I  was.  But  how  did  you  find 
out?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  she  said,  a  faint  trouble  coming  into 
her  face, ' '  that  is  the  worst  of  it.  It  was  when  we  were 
running  through  the  Messiah,  something  in  your  mind 
touched  mine,  I  think.  It  happens  sometimes,  doesn  't  it  ? 
— and — and  it  isn't  altogether  pleasant." 

She  drew  herself  away  from  him  instinctively,  but  he 
followed  her. 

"Why?  "he  asked. 

She  flashed  round  on  him.  ' '  Because  I  dislike  being 
touched. ' ' 

There  was  a  silence ;  finally  he  asked  curiously,  "Ought 
I  to  tell  Adam?  " 

' '  Why  should  you  ?  He  loves  miracles,  and  it  will  give 
him  something  to  talk  about,  besides  ' ' — here  she  laughed 
— "  it  was  a  miracle,  you  know,  to  make  the  old  organ 
sound  at  all." 

"  Perhaps,"  replied  Ned,  relieved  of  the  necessity  for 
confessing  one  of  the  many  sudden  impulses  which  were 
always  getting  him  into  trouble. 

They  found  Martha  by  the  tea-table  looking  very 
rakish  and  young  in  a  coat  and  skirt  and  a  sailor  hat, 
which,  however,  did  not  prevent  her  from,  as  usual,  mask- 
ing her  supremacy  by  subserviency.  The  gentlemen's 
rooms  were  quite  ready  for  them,  and  as  she  was  going 
through  the  village  could  she  leave  any  message  with  the 
smith  ? 


40  A.   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

1 1  Thanks,  no !  "  replied  Ted  curtly,  for  he  had  noticed 
Aura's  confidence  with  Ned,  and  had — he  scarcely  had 
time  to  think  why — resented  it ;  "  but,  I  think,  Crutten- 
den,  that  if  we  do  avail  ourselves  of  Mr.  Smith's  kindly 
offered  hospitality,  we  must  start  at  dawn,  picking  up  our 
bicycles  by  the  way. ' ' 

1 '  As  you  please,  Ted, ' '  replied  Ned  carelessly.  ' '  But 
thanks  all  the  same,  Martha.  I  hope  there  will  be  no 
more  miracles  in  church." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  retorted  Martha  cheerfully,  "  but  I 
don't  'old  with  church  nor  yet  with  chapel  neither.  As 
I  keep  tellin'  of  Adam,  they  makes  people  think  too  much 
of  their  sins.  An'  'is  is  but  what  we  cooks  call  second 
stock  at  that,  sir ;  for  takin '  'im,  fine  an '  wet,  Adam  do  'is 
work  like  a  real  Briton — yes!  he  really  do " 

With  which  testimonial  to  Adam's  worth  she  bobbed 
another  curtsey,  and  was  off  for  her  panacea  for  all  ills,  a 
"  spin  on  her  bike." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Ted  after  a  pause,  in  a  somewhat 
awed  voice,  "  that  Adam  is  Martha's  husband." 

Aura  bubbled  over  with  quick  mirth.  ' '  Martha 's  hus- 
band !  Oh  dear,  no !  Why,  she  is  always  at  me  '  not 
to  incline  to  no  man,  no;  not  if  his  'air  be  'ung  round 
with  gold';  and  just  think  of  Adam's  little  cropped 
head!  " 

Her  laugh  was  infectious. 

"  And  so  Martha  shares  the — the  family  dislike  to 
gold, ' '  suggested  Ned  slyly. 

Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  rose  to  the  fly  at  once.  "  We  do 
not  dislike  it,  sir;  gold  has  undoubtedly  its  appointed 
place  in  the  world,  but  it  happens  to  be  in  its  wrong  place. 
So  I  disregard  it,  and  pay  all  my  bills  by  cheque. ' ' 

' '  Martha  makes  out  the  lists  for  the  Army  and  Navy, 
you  know,"  explained  Aura  quickly.  "  It's  rather  fun 
unpacking  the  boxes  when  they  come." 

"  There  is  no  doubt,"  continued  Mr.  Smith,  in  a  tone 
of  voice  which  suggested  an  effort  to  be  strictly  original, 
' '  that  as  now  administered,  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil. 
Our  hoarded  millions  instead  of,  as  they  should,  bringing 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  41 

equality — comfortable,  contented  equality — to  the  world, 
separate  man  from  his  fellow  man  by  a  purely  artificial 
distinction ;  they  bring  about  class  antagonism,  and  are  a 
premium  on  inept  idleness." 

1 '  Hear,  hear !  ' '  said  Ted.  ' '  I  quite  agree  with  you, 
sir.    If  these  millions  were  equitably  divided " 

"  They  would  be  a  premium  on  idle  ineptitude  in- 
stead, ' '  laughed  Ned  lightly.  ' '  If  you  gave  a  loafer  the 
same  wage  as  a  working  man,  I  for  one  would  loaf.  It 
is  the  better  part.  If  any  one  were  to  offer  me  a  golden 
sovereign  at  the  present  moment,  Miss  Aura " 

She  arrested  the  teapot  in  the  middle  of  pouring  out 
his  second  cup,  and  glanced  up  at  him  in  smiling  horror. 

"And  I  never  gave  back  the  one  in  Cockatua's  bread 
and  milk  tin!  Dear  me,  what  should  I  have  done  if 
you  had  gone  away  and  left  it?  I'll  remember  it  after 
tea." 

But  after  tea  found  them  still  laughing,  still  talking, 
still  sitting  silent  awhile  listening  to  the  song  of  a  thrush 
which,  as  the  day  drew  down  to  dusk,  sat  on  the  bent 
branch  of  the  old  yew  to  sing  as  surely  never  thrush 
sang  before. 

So  the  moon  climbed  into  the  sky  and  the  flowers 
faded  into  the  ghosts  of  flowers,  each  holding  just  a  hint 
of  the  hues  it  had  worn  by  day. 

"  What  a  pity  it  is  to  go  to  bed  at  all,"  said  Aura  sud- 
denly, leaning  over  her  grandfather's  chair  and  laying 
her  cheek  on  his  thick,  white  hair;."  for  we  seem  to  have 
so  much  to  say  to  each  other,  don't  we!  " 

He  winced  slightly;  since  for  once  he  had  forgotten 
the  absorption  of  his  later  years,  and  had  let  himself  be 
as  he  would  have  been  but  for  the  tragedy  which  he  had 
fled  into  the  wilderness  to  hide.  For  he  had  seen  his  wife 
starve  to  death,  and  his  daughter  sell  herself  for  bread, 
while  he,  struck  down  by  rheumatic  fever,  had  waited 
for  the  tardy  decision  of  a  Law  Court.  The  verdict  had 
come  too  late  for  either ;  too  late  for  anything  but  decent 
burial  for  a  poor,  young  mother,  and  flight,  if  possible, 
from  himself.     But,  though  he  forgot  sometimes,   the 


42  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

tragedy  of  seeing  his  wife  die  before  his  helplessness,  it 
remained  always  to  blur  his  outlook,  to  make  him  what  he 
was,  a  half-crazy  visionary. 

And  to-night  he  had  forgotten.  He  had  laughed  at 
trivialities,  and  told  trivial  stories  of  the  thousand-year- 
old  yew  tree,  and  the  Druidical  legends  connected  with 
the  summer  solstice — the  real  midsummer  night,  though 
St.  John's  Day  came  later. 

But  now  remembrance  came  back,  and  he  rose.  '  We 
have  talked  too  much, ' '  he  said  almost  captiously,  ' '  and 
these  gentlemen  have  to  leave  at  dawn.  We  wish  them 
good  luck,  don't  we?    Come,  Aurelia,  my  child." 

So  they  had  said  good-bye;  but  five  minutes  after- 
wards, as  the  two  young  men  sat  silently  finishing  their 
pipes,  they  saw  her  returning  over  the  lawn,  holding  the 
sovereign  in  her  raised  right  hand. 

It  seemed  to  them  as  if  the  whole  world  came  with  her 
as,  rising  to  their  feet  instinctively,  they  waited  beside 
the  cool,  dark  pool,  full  of  the  black  shadows  of  the  yew 
tree,  full  also  of  marvellous  moonlit  depths  going  down 
and  down  into  more  and  more  light. 

The  air  was  heavy  with  the  flower  fragrance  of  the 
garden,  the  round  moon,  large,  soft,  mild,  hung  in  the 
velvety  sky,  not  a  breath  stirred  in  earth  or  heaven,  her 
very  footstep  on  the  turf  was  silent. 

1 '  Which  of  you  gave  it  me  ?  "  she  asked.  ' '  You  are 
so  much  alike,  at  first,  that  I  forget." 

They  were  silent,  uncertain  what  to  claim,  what  not  to 
claim. 

She  smiled.  "  Is  it  a  puzzle?  You  want  me  to  find 
out;  but  really,  I  expect  it  came  from  you  both." 

"  Yes,  from  us  both,"  assented  Ned. 

Her  eyes  were  on  Ted's  face,  which  was  good  indeed  to 
look  upon,  but  she  turned  swiftly  to  Ned. 

"Ah!  It  was  you,  of  course.  Yes,  it  was  you,"  she 
said,  holding  out  the  coin.    He  took  it  without  a  word. 

"  It  seems  a  shame  to  go  to  bed  this  heavenly  night, 
but  you  have  to  be  up  so  early. ' '  There  was  regret  in  her 
voice. 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  43 

"  Why  should  we?"  said  Ned  impulsively.  "  Let  us 
roam  the  hills,  I  have  done  it  before  now,  alone. ' ' 

She  stood  looking  at  them  both,  her  face  mysteriously 
bright. 

"And  you?  "  she  asked  of  Ted. 

He  laughed.    "  I  feel  like  it  to-night,  anyhow." 

"Ah,"  she  said,  nodding  her  head,  "  you  are  a  wise 
man.    Good-night  and  pleasant  dreams." 

They  watched  her  pass  in  her  white  raiment  across  the 
lawn,  taking  the  glamour  of  the  night  with  her,  and  leav- 
ing them  with  an  ordinary  moon  shining  on  an  ordinary 
garden. 

Then  Ted  gave  a  short  laugh  and  flung  himself  on  the 
turf  again,  resuming  his  pipe. 

"  What's  the  matter?  "  asked  Ned  imperturbably. 
Nothing.  I  was  only  thinking  of  all  the  gassing  you 
let  out  yesterday  concerning  money.  Why,  it  means — 
everything!  Hang  that  sovereign  to  your  watch-chain, 
man,  and  then  you  can  tell  her  a  romantic  tale 
when " 

A  "  whitt  whitt,  whitter,"  followed  by  a  sudden  sob 
among  the  shadows  and  lights  of  the  pool,  told  of  one 
more  duck-and-drake 

"  As  if  that  made  any  difference, ' '  he  continued  sardon- 
ically.   ' '  You  have  plenty  more  of  them. ' ' 

"  So  far  as  I'm  concerned,  it  makes  some  difference," 
retorted  Ned  with  spirit.  "  That  particular  coin  won't 
be  put  to  baser  uses. ' ' 

There  was  a  pause,  broken  only  by  Ned's  vain  effort  to 
get  his  cheroot  to  draw.  Suddenly  he  flung  it  aside, 
edged  himself  out  of  the  shadow  into  the  light  and  faced 
his  namesake. 

"  Look  here,  Cruttenden,"  he  said,  "  I've  got  some- 
thing to  explain  to  you,  because — well — because  I  want 
this  thing  to  be  fair  and  square  between  us.  The  fact 
is,  that  though  my  name  is  Edward  Cruttenden  all  right, 
I  have  the  misfortune  to  have  been  for  the  last  two  years, 
most  unexpectedly,  Lord  Blackborough." 

"  Lord  Blackborough !  "  echoed  Ted  slowly.    "  Why — 


44  &   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

why,  you're — you're  my  master — that  is  to  say,  I'm  one 
of  your  clerks — and — and  you're  the  richest  man  in  the 
midlands. ' ' 

"  I  believe  I  was,  a  year  ago;  but  money  doesn't  stick 
by  me.  I  wasn't  brought  up  to  it.  Yes,  I  became  Lord 
Blackborough  against  my  will,  by  the  death  of  my  uncle, 
a  cripple,  who  inherited  the  barony — bought  by  screws 
chiefly — from  the  original  purchaser,  who  had  a  fit  on 
hearing  that  his  only  son  had  shot  himself  over  a  woman. 
A  squalid  story,  and  the  distinction  between  us  is,  as  you 
see,  a  purely  artificial  one " 

"  I  quite  agree  with  your  lordship,"  interrupted  Ted. 

' '  My  dear  fellow, ' '  replied  Lord  Blackborough,  ' '  you 
will  oblige  me  by  not  being  a  garden  ass.  The  fact  is,  we 
have  a  considerable  likeness  to  each  other  outside,  in 
which  you  have  distinctly  the  advantage.  You're  taller, 
broader ;  briefly,  the  better  looking.  As  to  the  inside,  we 
differ  somewhat,  but  there  again  you  have  the  qualities 
which  make  for  wealth,  and  I  haven't.  I  can  see  myself 
a  poor  man  in  my  old  age.  Then  we  tumbled  off  our 
cycles  together  in  an  equal  way.  In  a  still  more  equal 
way  we  have  tumbled  into — let  us  say,  this  Garden 
of  Eden.  Now,  why  shouldn't  we  remain  in  it  on  equal 
terms?  " 

"  Because  it  is  impossible.  You  are  Lord  Black- 
borough, and  I  am  your  clerk. ' ' 

1 '  But  why  should  we  not  remain  the  brothers  Crutten- 
den?    In  this  remote " 

"  Impossible,"  repeated  Ted  angrily. 

"Anyhow,  let  us  think  over  it.  We  agreed,  didn't  we, 
to  spend  our  holiday  together.  Well,  let  us  talk  it  over, 
and  if  it  is  feasible,  come  back " 

Ted  laughed  bitterly.  ' '  A  clerk  hasn  't  so  much  holiday 
as  a  lord.    I've  had  my  week,  while  you " 

"  Yes,  of  course;  don't,  please,  go  off  at  a  tangent  like 
our  host.  We  have  got  to  work  this  thing  out  somehow, 
for,  unless  we  do — well — I  won 't  come  back  alone,  so  you 
would  always  have  that  between  you  and  your  night's 
rest.    Do  you  understand  ?  " 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  45 

Ted  nodded  sulkily.  He  had  liked  his  companion  be- 
fore he  knew  he  was  a  lord,  and  now  all  the  Englishman 's 
love  for  one,  that  strange  modern  inversion  which  grants 
quality  to  title,  instead  of  as  in  the  beginning  granting 
title  to  quality,  was  mixed  up  in  the  thought  of  future 
friendship  with  one  who  would,  who  could  be  such  a 
friend. 

"  Of  course,  I  could  buy  you  off,  or  turn  you  out.  Now, 
don't  fume.  I  won't  interfere  with  your  personal  liberty 
if  I  can  help  it.  I  really  am  in  deadly  earnest.  It  seems 
to  me  we  have  been  given  a  lead  over — that  there  is  some- 
thing behind  all  this.  However,  that  is  neither  here  nor 
there,  so  far  as  you  are  concerned. ' '  He  sat  for  a  moment 
thinking. 

"  When  can  you  get  your  next  holiday?  "  he  asked 
abruptly. 

1 '  I  believe  I  could  get  a  week  at  Christmas, ' '  admitted 
Ted  grudgingly. 

Lord  Blackborough  sprang  to  his  feet  like  a  schoolboy, 
and  laughed.  ' '  How  will  Eden  look  under  snow  ?  Jolly, 
I  expect " 

"  You  don't  mean "  began  Ted,  rising  also. 

"  Yes,  I  do.  I  mean  that,  so  far  as  I'm  concerned,  we 
shall  say  good-bye  to  it — till  Christmas — at  dawn — the 
dawn  which  will  so  soon  be  coming.  Good  Heavens !  "  he 
added,  his  eyes  on  the  horizon  of  the  hills,  his  voice  soften- 
ing infinitely,  "  why  am  I  going  to  bed?  Who  knows? 
Perchance  to  dream.    Good-night." 

Ted  could  hear  him  going  on  with  the  quotation  as  he 
strolled  over  to  the  house.  Thereinafter  there  was  a  light 
in  one  of  the  upper  windows,  and  then  darkness. 

He  himself  sat  for  a  while  thinking  over  the  queer 
chances  of  the  last  few  days.  It  was  like  a  novel ;  not  like 
real  life.  That  hundred  pounds,  for  instance,  lying  out 
on  the  hillside  ready  for  any  one  who  chose  to  take  it. 
There  had  been  plenty  of  chances  of  a  hundred  pounds 
even  in  his  life,  had  he  felt  any  immediate  necessity  for 
them,  but  he  had  not.  His  life  on  the  whole  had  been 
pleasant  enough.    Fond  of  football,  cricket,  cycling,  row- 


46  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

ing,  he  had  not  thought  much  of  the  delights  of  money 
getting.  But  now?  A  hundred  pounds  well  laid  out, 
for  instance  on  that  investment  about  which  his  old  school 
friend,  a  clerk  on  the  Stock  Exchange,  had  written  him 
only  last  week,  might  well  be  a  thousand  by  Christmas. 

It  held  him  fast  that  hundred  pounds,  thinking  what 
could  be  done  with  it  by  Christmas. 

It  might  win  him  Aurelia.  For  if  in  other  ways 
equality  could  be  kept  up,  why  shouldn't  he  have  a  fair 
chance  ?  He  was  the  better  looking — if  that  counted  for 
anything.  Then  he  had  another  advantage.  Though  he 
was  long  past  much  of  the  old  man's  antiquated  Social- 
ism, he  was  keen  on  more  modern  ideas,  a  Radical  of  the 
most  forward  type  politically,  whereas  Lord  Blackbor- 
ough — what  was  Lord  Blackborough  ?  Well,  he  was  a 
very  good  fellow  anyhow. 

Yes,  he  was  a  good  fellow,  though  he  was  right  in  say- 
ing money  didn't  stick  to  him.  How  could  it,  when  he 
left  it,  so  to  speak,  lying  about. 

Ted  knocked  out  the  ashes  of  his  pipe,  and,  after  a 
space,  another  light  showed  in  one  of  the  upper  windows. 
Then  it  went  out,  and  the  window  eye  was  shut. 

But  what  of  the  eyes  within.    Were  they  shut  or  open  1 

Who  knows  ? 

Were  their  owners  asleep  or  awake,  conscious  that  they 
had  reached  a  crossing  of  the  ways — that  one  path  led  up 
to  the  rugged  mountain-tops,  the  other  into  the  smooth 
valleys. 

Who  knows  ? 

The  moon  shone  softly  behind  a  haze  of  midnight  cool- 
ness, rising  from  the  earth  to  blur  the  clear  circle  of  her 
heavenly  rim. 

There  was  a  breathlessness  in  the  very  stillness  of  the 
night,  that  was  broken  only  by  the  distant  wailing  of  the 
lambs  new-separate  from  their  mothers. 

Hark !  What  was  it  they  were  calling  ?  Faint  and  far 
away,  what  was  it? 

"  Aura!  Aura!  Aura!  " 

Up  in  the  corries,  setting  the  tall  brackens  a-quiver, 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  47 

high  on  the  birch  woods  hidden  in  their  silver,  higher  still 
among  the  tumbled  rocks  of  the  "  Eye  of  the  World," 
what  was  that  passing? 

Was  it,  white  and  dim,  a  wandering  sheep  looming 
large  upon  the  moonlit  mountainside  as  it  sought  to  an- 
swer the  cry,  or,  this  midsummer  night  when  the  spirits 
wander,  was  it  a  restless  wraith  seeking  it  knew  not  what  ? 

Or  was  it  Aura  herself,  free  and  fearless  among  the 
hills? 

"  Aura!  Aura!  Aura!  " 

The  faint,  far-distant  call  sounded  from  the  valley, 
from  the  corries,  from  the  birch  woods,  from  the  rocks. 

The  shadows  lay  so  still,  so  soft,  yet  that  one  surely 
moved — moved  upwards. 

"  Aura!  Aura!  Aura!  "  Was  it  Aura,  or  only  the 
echoing  sound  of  the  calling  lambs  ? 

Still,  soft,  equable,  serene,  oh,  misty  mountain  moon- 
light what  didst  thou  hold  ? 

And  in  the  garden  across  the  lawn,  where  the  girl's 
feet  had  lain,  was  that  curved  shadow,  a  snake  making 
its  way  to  the  black  and  white  shadow  of  the  Druid 's  yew 
tree? 

Oh,  misty  moonlight  of  the  valley  what  didst  thou  hold, 
as  the  faint,  far-away  cry  echoed  between  the  hills,  and 
up  into  high  heaven  ? 

Did  they  meet  and  hold  converse  face  to  face  upon  the 
mountain-top,  those  wandering  lights  and  shadows  on  the 
mountainsides?  or  did  they  wander,  searching  for  some- 
thing, until  dawn,  and  find  nothing? 


Dawn  at  any  rate  came  soon,  as  Ned  had  said  it  would. 

The  moonlight  changed  swiftly  to  sunlight,  the  heifer 
lowed  for  her  bull-calf,  a  sleepy  chaffinch  chirruped  his 
challenge  to  the  coming  day,  and  Ted  Cruttenden  coming 
into  the  verandah  from  the  library  saw  Ned  entering  it 
from  the  music  room,  while  at  the  hall  door  between  them 
stood  Aurelia,  blushing  at  being  caught  so  early. 

She  was  in  a  loose,  white  overall,  girded  in  at  the  waist 


48  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

with  a  leathern  girdle,  and  her  bare  feet  were  shod  in 
sandals. 

"  Good-morning,"  she  said,  without  any  trace  of  the 
blush  in  her  voice.  ' '  See  what  I  have  found  under  the 
old  yew  tree.  Grandfather's  chair  had  torn  the  turf,  and 
there  it  was.  Do  you  think  it  can  be  the  snake-ring 
grandfather  told  us  about  1  ' ' 

The  flat,  bead-like  stone  she  held  out  was  no  larger  than 
a  sixpence,  but  it  had  a  hole  through  its  greenish,  semi- 
opaque  lustre. 

1 '  I  think  it  must  be, ' '  said  Ted,  passing  it  on  to  Ned. 
"  You  will  have  '  all  the  wealth  of  the  world.'  Wasn't 
that  what  it  is  supposed  to  bring  ?  ' ' 

"  But  I  don't  want  money,"  she  said. 

"  The  wealth  of  the  world  is  not  all  money,"  smiled 
Ned,  handing  the  stone  back  to  her.    ' '  There  is  love. ' ' 

She  laughed  merrily.  "  I  don't  want  that  either.  No ! 
not  if  'is  'air  be  'ung  round  with  gold. ' ' 

They  waved  a  good-bye  to  her  from  the  turn  of  the 
draw-bridge. 

"  Till  Christmas,"  said  Ned  cheerfully. 

"  Till  Christmas,"  replied  Ted  cheerfully. 

They  found  the  village  early  astir.  Miss  Myfanwy 
Jones's  holiday  having  come  to  an  end,  she  was  starting 
for  Williams  and  Edwards  with  a  pile  of  empty  dress 
and  bonnet  boxes,  which  Alicia  Edwards,  the  Reverend 
Morris  Pugh,  and  the  Adonis  Mervyn  were  packing  into 
the  village  shandrydan. 

1  '  It  is  most  kind  of  you  gentlemen  to  be  up  so  early, ' ' 
said  Myfanwy,  dispensing  her  smiles  impartially.  "  It  is 
no  use  asking  you,  Mr.  Morris, ' '  she  said,  throwing  a  little 
flavouring  of  regret  into  her  voice,  "  you  are  too  busy 
and  too  good;  but  if  Mr.  Mervyn  comes  up  to  town  I 
trust  he  will  call  on  me." 

Mervyn,  whose  front  lock  looked  exactly  as  if  it  had 
just  left  a  curling-pin's  care,  nodded  at  her  approvingly. 

1 '  That  would  be  jolly  fun, ' '  he  said.  ' '  I  have  to  go  up 
for  an  examination  in  September." 

"  Good-bye,  then,  till  September.    Good-bye,  Alicia." 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  49 

As  she  kissed  the  latter  she  whispered,  "  That  will  be  a 
guinea  to  your  account  for  the  hat. ' ' 

"  You  said  a  pound,"  protested  Alicia. 

"  That  was  for  cash,  child.  And  what  is  a  shilling? 
But  two  sixpences ;  and  you  shall  pay  when  you  are  mar- 
ried, see  you. ' ' 


CHAPTER    V 

Would  anything  stop  those  waves  except  a  Cornish  coast  ? 
thought  Helen  Tressilian,  as  she  watched  the  green-blue, 
solid  water  slip  over  a  half -sunk  rock,  and  with  unabated 
strength,  send  up  against  a  higher  shelving  mass  a  forty- 
foot  column  of  reckless  spray. 

And  the  sky  was  so  blue,  the  sun  so  hot,  bringing  out  all 
the  aromatic  odours  of  the  cliff  herbs.  How  sweet  they 
were !  It  would  almost  be  worth  while  to  be  a  humble  bee 
to  work  so  busily  among  the  purple  thyme.  She  let  some 
heads  of  it  she  had  picked  fall  on  her  lap  with  a  little  list- 
less gesture.  Yes!  to  work  instead  of  droning  out  the 
days.  To  work  as  Herbert,  the  dead  young  husband  of 
her  dreams,  had  meant  to  work.  It  was  seven  years  since 
she  had  lost  him  in  Italy,  whither  they  had  gone  on  their 
honeymoon  for  his  health.  So  he  lay  there  dead  through 
the  breaking  of  a  blood  vessel ;  dead  without  a  good-bye ; 
dead  under  the  blue  sky  amid  the  orange  blossoms,  while 
she,  after  her  mother's  death,  kept  house  for  her  father, 
Sir  Geoffrey  Pentreath.  And  still  on  her  roughest  serge 
suits  she  wore  the  conventional  muslin  of  widowhood 
round  her  throat  and  wrists. 

And  in  her  heart  1  In  her  heart  she  had  set  up  such  a 
fetich  of  bereavement  that  the  idea  of  a  second  marriage 
was  unthinkable.  Yet  it  would  have  been  advisable.  The 
death  of  her  only  brother  in  South  Africa  sent  the  few 
farms,  which  was  all  that  remained  of  the  great  Pen- 
treath estates,  to  a  distant  cousin,  and  for  long  years  past 
Sir  Geoffrey  had  had  no  ready  money.  Poor  father !  It 
was  the  thought  of  her  which  made  him 

She  glanced  to  the  left,  over  a  great  scaur  of  tumbled 
rocks  like  some  giant's  house  in  ruins,  gave  a  little  shiver 
and  buried  her  face  in  her  hands. 

50 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  51 

Poor  father!  Yet  how  could  he?  And  how  could  he 
be  mixed  up  with  all  those  fateful,  hateful  people  with 
money,  who  brought  their  chauffeurs  to  the  old  serving- 
hall  at  the  Keep  ?  Those  chauffeurs  were  the  bane  of  her 
life ;  for  what  should  she  give  them  to  eat ! 

Some  one  from  behind  clasped  her  wrists  close,  and 
held  her  hands  still  on  her  eyes. 

1 '  Guess !  ' '  said  a  sepulchrally  gruff  voice. 

* '  My  dear  Ned !  Where  have  you  come  from  ?  ' '  she 
answered  gaily. 

1 '  How  did  you  find  out  ?  ' '  asked  Ned  Blackborough, 
seating  himself  on  the  thyme  beside  her. 

"As  if  any  one  but  Ned  Cruttenden — I  can 't  help  the 
name,  my  dear — was  ever  quite  so  hoarse  !  ' ' 

"  By  George,  Nell,"  he  said,  looking  seawards,  "  it  is 
good  to  be  here.  That's  what  one  always  says,  isn't  it, 
when  the  visible  Body  of  the  Lord  is  transfigured  before 
one 's  eyes  as  it  is  now. ' ' 

' '  You  know,  Ned,  I  do  not  agree  with  your  Buddhistic 
notions, ' '  she  said,  a  trifle  severely. 

"  Beg  pardon!  They're  not  Buddhistic;  but  I'm  al- 
always  forgetting  you  don't  like — though  you  will  some 
day !  Meanwhile  I  want  to  ask  you  a  question :  and  as  the 
butler  told  me  you  would  be  on  the  coast  somewhere  .  .  . 
you've  a  most  superior  set  of  London  servants  just  now, 
Nell " 

"  To  keep  the  chauffeurs  company,"  she  interrupted, 
shrugging  her  shoulders.    "  One  must — but  don't  let's 

talk  of  it — it's  sickening And  so  you  came  to  the 

old  place?  " 

"  To  the  old  place,  Nell,"  he  repeated,  looking  at  her 
with  criticising  eyes  of  kind  affection,  and  thinking  she 
looked  as  though  she  stood  in  need  of  physical  and  moral 
backing ;  ' '  I  always  think  of  you  here,  looking  out  to  sea, 

just  under  Betty  Cam's  chair "  he  nodded  his  head 

backwards  to  the  scaur  of  tumbled  rocks.  "  If  you  get 
looking  so  long,  Nell,  you  will  be  seeing  ghostly  things — 
like  she  did.  She  was  your  ancestress,  you  know,  and  it 
isn't  safe " 


52  A.    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

He  spoke  tentatively,  but  she  evaded  him.  ' '  You  said 
you  had  a  question,"  she  asked;  "  what  is  it?  " 

' '  Only  if  you  have  room  at  the  Keep  ?  ' ' 

She  laid  her  hand  on  his  in  swift  reproof — ' '  Was  there 
ever  a  time  when  there  was  not  room !  ' ' 

He  smiled.  "  True;  but  unfortunately  I've — I've  a 
second  self  now. ' ' 

1 '  Ned !  ' '  She  stared  at  him.  ' '  Oh  Ned !  How  could 
you — without  a  word !    Who  is  she  1  ' ' 

"  It  is  a  he,  my  dear.  We  collided  together  and  found 
out  our  respective  names  were  the  same.  But  of  that 
anon.  And  there  is  a  Scotch  doctor  too — a  rattling  good 
fellow,  one  Peter  Ramsay,  whom  we  picked  up — but  of 
that  also  anon.  Meanwhile  these  are  at  the  *  Crooked 
Ewe  '  regaling  themselves,  and — well!  I  can't  leave 
them,  you  see,  for  they're  my  guests,  but — but  we  could 
dine  with  the  chauffeurs,  you  know." 

"  Don't  be  silly,  Ned!  Of  course  you  must  come. 
There's  still  room  in  the  ruins  for  the  family — and  you 
won't  mind " 

She  broke  off  suddenly,  and  looked  out  to  sea. 

"  Tired,  Nell?  "  he  asked  quietly.  "  How  you  fuss, 
my  dear  cousin !  ' ' 

' '  Who  could  help  fussing  ?  ' '  she  said  without  looking 
at  him.  "  We  could  live  so  comfortably,  father  and  I, 
on  what  we  have  got,  if  it  were  not  for  this  craze  of  his 
to  make  money  for  me.  Ah,  Ned !  I  wish  you  had  never 
lent  him  that  fifteen  thousand." 

It  was  nearer  twenty-five  thousand,  but  that  fact  lay 
lightly  on  Ned  Blackborough's  mind. 

"  I  believe  it  to  be  an  excellent  investment,"  he  re- 
marked coolly,  "  though  I  own  I  didn't  know  what  he 
wanted  it  for  at  the  time. ' ' 

"And  you  don't  know  now?  "  she  broke  in  passion- 
ately. ' '  There  it  stands — despicable  utterly — facing  the 
sea — that  sea. ' '    She  pointed  to  it  appealingly. 

Ned  looked  out  to  the  clear  horizon,  so  definite  yet  so 
undefined,  where  a  liner,  after  taking  its  bearings  from 
the  lighthouse  far  away  to  the  west,  was  steering  straight 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  53 

up  Channel.  It  seemed  to  glide  evenly  between  sea  and 
sky,  and  yet  here  the  thunder  of  each  wave  filled  the  air 
with  sound.  Ay !  a  sea  not  to  be  safely  faced  by  anything 
despicable. 

"  You  are  letting  this  beast  of  an  hotel  get  on  your 
mind,  Nell,"  he  said,  after  a  pause.  "After  all,  half  the 
white  and  coloured  cliffs  of  Old  England  are  so  dese- 
crated  " 

"  Don't  excuse  it,"  she  interrupted  almost  fiercely; 
"  it's  inexcusable.    When  I  think  what  Jeff  would  have 

said — Jeff  who  loved  every  stone — dear  old  Jeff " 

She  broke  off  and  hid  her  face  in  her  hands. 

1 '  Curse  South  Africa !  ' '  said  Ned  under  his  breath. 

She  looked  up  after  a  while.  "  You  see,"  she  began 
more  composedly,  "  what  stings  is  that  it  is  all  done  for 
me ;  and  I — fifty  pounds  a  year  would  keep  me  going  as 
a  hospital  nurse ;  and  I  shall  never  be  anything  else,  Ned, 
never !  I  lost  everything  for  myself  seven  years  ago,  and 
what  I  have  belongs  to  others.  And  there  is  so  much  in 
the  past  for  which  atonement  should  be  made.  You  don't 
belong  to  the  Pentreaths,  you  see ;  but  they  were  a  wild 
race — Betty  Cam,  as  you  reminded  me !  Think  of  her ! 
Why,  Ned,  when  I  see  at  night  that  hateful  place  all  lit 
up  with  electric  light  and  shining  far,  far  out  to  sea,  I 
feel  as  if  we  were  doing  it  all  over  again !  Luring  ships 
to  the  rocks !  ' ' 

"  My  dear  Nell,  what  an  imagination  you've  got!  " 
expostulated  her  cousin. 

She  pulled  herself  up.  "  Have  I  ?  But  it  is  so  useless. 
And  it  seems  to  get  worse  and  worse  since  Mr.  Hirsch 
came  in.  He  is  at  the  Keep  now,  arranging  for  a  light 
railway.  And  oh,  Ned !  the  place  where  we  used  to  picnic 
as  children — you  remember,  of  course — is  all  placarded 
as  *  eligible  building-sites. '  " 

Ned  whistled,  and  looked  out  to  sea.  As  he  had  said, 
the  white  cliffs  of  Marine  England  were  so  disfigured 
everywhere ;  but  that  did  not  bring  much  consolation  for 
the  destruction  of  absolute  beauty. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  only  hope  some  one  may  think 


54  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

them  so,  and  that  the  hotel  is  crowded  up  to  the  garrets. 
It's  got  to  be;  for  the  farmers  and  the  little  shopkeepers 
at  Haverton,  who  put  their  piles  into  it — because  my 
uncle  did — will  expect  a  dividend !  " 

1 '  And  the  others  too, ' '  she  added  bitterly.  ' '  You  know 
Mr.  Hirsch  has  floated  it.  It's  quoted  on  the  Stock  Ex- 
change now,  and  they  are  going  to  run  up  select  jerry- 
built  villas  with  the  money  they  get  on  the  new  shares, 
as  they  ran  up  the  jerry-built  hotel " 

' '  With  mine, ' '  laughed  Ned,  a  trifle  uneasily.  ' '  Well, 
my  dear  child,  I  hadn't  any  intention  of  building  it— but 
it's  there — and  let  us  come  and  look  at  it.  It  can't 
help,  can  it,  being  in  a  lovely  spot  ?  " 

"  Can't  it?  "  she  said  coldly;  "  but  I  try  to  forget  its 
existence — it  gets  on  my  nerves.' ' 

' '  Apparently, ' '  he  said  quietly. 

"  And  so  it  would  on  yours,"  she  retorted,  "  if  you 
lived  within  hail  of  it,  and  nothing  else  was  talked  about 
day  and  night.  But  there — let's  leave  it  alone!  You 
can  see  it  on  your  way  to  the  '  Crooked  Ewe. '  We  shall 
expect  you  to  lunch,  of  course. ' ' 

"  Thanks,"  he  replied;  "  and— and  I  think  you'll  like 
the  Scotch  doctor— he  is  so  awfully  keen.  So  full  too  of 
his  work  at  Blackborough.  He  is  house-surgeon,  I  think, 
to  some  hospital  there. " 

Her  face,  a  moment  before,  almost  sullen  in  its  ob- 
stinate objection,  lit  up  at  once.    "  Not  St.  Peter's !  "  she 

cried.    "  How  interesting Why!  it  is  the  best,  they 

say,  in  the  kingdom ;  and  I  mean  to  have  my  training  in 
the  children's  ward  there." 

"  You  look  rather  as  if  you  ought  to  go  there  as  a 
patient,  Nell,"  he  replied,  shaking  his  head;  "  and  you 
are  a  perfect  child  still.  I  wonder  if  you  will  ever 
learn " 

1 '  What  ?  "she  asked  quickly. 

"  Yourself,"  he  laughed,  as  he  started  up  the  scaur. 

Betty  Cam's  chair  lay  at  the  top ;  a  huge  slab  of  gneiss 
with  another  forming  the  back,  bearing  no  particular  re- 
semblance to  a  chair  at  all.     Still  there  it  was  that  Betty 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  5o 

Cam,  the  witch,  used  to  sit,  and,  after  lighting  her  false 
fire,  fling  her  arms  about  and  mutter  incantations  till 
deadly  storms  arose. 

Many  are  such  stories,  current  on  the  wild  west  coast, 
and  still  firmly  believed  of  the  people ;  none  perhaps  bet- 
ter authenticated  than  this,  that  on  the  nights  of  fierce 
sou 'westers  a  glow  of  light  could  still  be  seen  at  Betty 
Cam's  chair,  and  that  more  than  once  the  ghost  of  the 
ghostly  Indiaman  which,  with  all  sails  set,  had  sailed  one 
awful  winter's  night  straight  up  the  bay,  straight  over 
the  cliff,  nipped  up  Betty  Cam,  and  sailed  away  with  her 
right  over  far  Darty-moor  to  Hell,  had  been  seen  pur- 
suing the  same  extraordinary  course. 

Ned  felt  as  if  he  could  have  put  other  folk  aboard  for 
that  trip,  as,  cresting  the  hill-top,  he  came  full  in  sight 
of  the  Sea- view  Hotel. 

He  sat  down  promptly  on  the  chair,  and  gave  a  low 
whistle  of  dismay. 

Cam's  point,  as  he  had  known  it,  that  gorse-covered 
promontory  sheer  dov  n  in  purpling  cliff  to  the  blue-green 
sea,  was  gone.  In  its  place  was  an  ineffectual  attempt 
at  a — at  a  tea-garden!  Winding  walks  here,  winding 
walks  there,  meandering  toward  aimless  summer-houses, 
kiosks,  bandstands,  which  were  recklessly  scattered  about 
the  bare  soil.  For  it  was  bare.  Gorse  would  grow  there, 
or  scented  purple  thyme,  or  any  of  the  innumerable  small 
aromatic  herbs  which  the  south-west  wind  loves,  but  grass 
and  most  garden  flowers  were  helpless  before  the  constant 
breeze,  which,  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,  swept 
over  the  point  laden  with  salt,  and  even  in  this  flat,  calm, 
June  weather  making  the  steel  guy-ropes  of  the  flag-staff 
hum  like  a  hive  of  swarming  bees. 

As  for  the  Sea-view — ye  gods !  the  pestilential  obvious- 
ness of  that  name !— Hotel,  if  it  also  were  not  guyed  by 
ropes  it  looked  as  if  it  would  be  the  better  of  it.  What 
was  it,  standing  on  the  very  edge  of  the  cliff — Italian — 
Greek— Gothic — or  a  Swiss  chalet?  There  were  remin- 
iscences of  all  in  its  medley  of  inconsequent  towers, 
gables,  battlements,  balconies.    A  lunatic  asylum  built  by 


56  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

the  patients!  Utterly  irrational,  utterly  out  of  touch 
with  its  surroundings  of  earth,  and  sea,  and  sky.  Yes! 
quite  antagonistic  to  the  little  fishing  village  in  the  bay 
below,  to  the  supreme  fairness  of  the  coast  trending  away 
westward  in  headland  after  headland.  Above  all,  abso- 
lutely unfit  to  face  that  wide  waste  of  water,  so  smooth, 
so  silent  on  the  far  horizon,  so  restless,  so  clamorous  in  its 
assault  on  the  near  cliffs.  You  could  hear  the  angry  roar 
of  the  waves  on  the  rocks,  see  the  weather-stains  on  those 
thin  walls. 

And  as  he  watched  a  strange  thing  came  about.  In 
every  wide  window  of  the  huge  facade  a  blaze  of  light 
showed,  and  round  the  arches  hung  with  lamps  in  the  tea- 
garden,  a  multi-coloured  flash  shone  for  a  second,  and 
then  went  out  again. 

They  must  be  trying  the  electric  light.  Then  he 
laughed  suddenly.  It  tickled  his  fancy — apt  to  be  va- 
grant— to  think  how  this  gigantic  modern  sham,  full  of 
false  civilisation,  full  of  lifts,  lounges,  bars,  winter-gar- 
dens, a  real  up-to-date,  twentieth-century  substitute  for  a 
home,  engineered  on  the  latest  American  lines,  must  look 
to  any  home-bound  ship  passing  up  channel.  A  beacon 
distinctly;  but  a  beacon  warning  the  world  against 
what? 

"  Trinity  House  and  Betty  Cam  had  better  settle  it 
between  them,"  he  muttered  to  himself,  as,  turning  at 
right  angles,  he  set  off  over  the  moorland  to  the  ' '  Crooked 
Ewe,"  where  Peter  Ramsay  and  Ted  Cruttenden  were 
awaiting  him. 

He  had  picked  up  the  former  crossing  over  from  Cardiff 
to  Ilf racombe,  and  finding  he  had  a  few  days  to  spare  be- 
fore taking  up  his  new  appointment,  Ned  had  asked  him 
to  come  on  with  him  and  see  the  prettiest  part  of  Corn- 
wall, and  perhaps  stop  a  night  with  his  uncle  Sir  Geoffrey 
Pentreath — if  there  was  room. 

He  wondered  rather  how  Helen  had  found  this  room, 
as  he  looked  round  the  long  lunch  table ;  but,  as  his  uncle 
confided  to  him,  half  of  the  guests  belonged  to  the  hotel. 
There  had  been  a  committee  of  ways  and  means,  and  sev- 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  57 

eral  people — notably  Mr.  Robert  Jenkin,  who  was  sitting 
next  Helen — were  over  from  Wellhampton  for  the  day. 
Yes !  that  was  Mr.  Hirseh  at  her  other  side,  a  most  able 
man,  but  rather  too  near  his  bete  noire,  Mr.  Jenkin,  to 
show  to  advantage. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  Hirseh  was  making  himself 
extremely  disagreeable  to  his  enemy  by  insisting  on  keep- 
ing the  conversation  at  a  much  higher  level  of  culture 
than  any  to  which  Mr.  Jenkin  could  aspire,  for  he  had 
begun  and  gone  on  with  life  for  a  considerable  time  as 
a  local  ironmonger.  Then  fortune  had  favoured  him,  and 
he  became  the  local  millionaire,  remaining  still,  however, 
so  Mr.  Hirseh  declared,  "  the  petty  tradesman." 

The  latter  was  a  very  clever,  very  dapper  little  German 
Jew,  with  nothing  to  show  his  ancestry  and  his  age,  ex- 
cept a  slight  foreign  lisp,  and  a  still  more  slight  tendency 
to  size  below  the  last  button  of  his  waistcoat,  a  tendency 
which  gave  him  more  concern  than  it  need  have  done, 
since  it  really  only  showed  in  profile.  For  the  rest,  he 
was  inscrutably  good-natured.  Money  stuck  to  him,  and 
his  many  kindnesses  never  interfered  with  his  keen  eye 
for  business — or  beauty. 

It  was  Helen's  handsome,  melancholy  face  which  had 
been  the  secret  of  his  interest  in  Sir  Geoffrey 's  venture ; 
on  the  principle  of  opposites,  it  is  to  be  supposed,  since 
he  was  a  frank  pagan,  a  bon  viveur  born. 

So  he  talked  lightly  of  Rome,  and  a  few  of  the  crowned 
heads  of  Europe  with  whom  he  had  a  bowing  acquaint- 
ance ;  but  finding  this  rather  too  interesting  to  Mr.  Jen- 
kin, he  settled  down  on  Bayreuth,  and  gossiped  Parsifal, 
becoming  after  a  time  really  engrossed,  and  saying  al- 
most with  tears  in  his  eyes,  ' '  Ah !  my  dear  lady,  how  I 
should  love  to  show  you  it." 

He  felt  seriously  sentimental ;  in  truth,  the  remark  was 
as  near  a  proposal  as  he  had  gone  for  quite  a  number  of 
years. 

"  We  intend,  Mrs.  Tressilian, ' '  put  in  Mr.  Jenkin,  not 
to  be  outdone, ' '  to  get  the  Yaller  Peking  band  down  from 
the  Halls  durin'  our  season — July- August.     It'll  play 


58  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

durin'  meals,  an*  after  dinner  in  the  Pirates*  Pavilion. 
An'  I'm  sure,  Mrs.  Tressilian,  the  conductor — he  ain't 
really  a  Chinaman,  ma'am,  the  pig- tail  bein'  only  a  thing 
to  catch  on — ha!  ha!  ha!  that  ain't  a  bad  joke,  is  it, 
Hirsch  ?    Pig-tails  a  thing  to  catch  on  to — ha  !  ha  !  ha !  " 

Mr.  Hirsch  surveyed  him  with  distasteful  wonder. 

"  You  don't  wear  one,  do  you,  Mr.  'Jenkin?  "  he 
asked  suavely,  his  foreign  accent  coming  out,  as  it  always 
did,  when  he  was  annoyed. 

' '  No,  sir,  I  don 't, ' '  snapped  his  adversary ;  ' l  but  as 
I  was  sayin',  ma'am,  I'm  sure  if  you  had  a  hankerin' 
after  any  particular  tune,  he'd  play  it.  I  don't  know 
about  Percival,  but  his  repertoire  of  Cake  Walk  is  the 
first,  I  'm  told,  in  Europe. ' ' 

Meanwhile  Ned  Blackborough  was  taking  stock  of  the 
rest  of  the  company.  On  the  whole — queer !  The  Wrex- 
hams  he  knew,  of  course.  She  went  in  for  spiritualism 
and  he  for  spirits ;  both  good  enough  sorts  even  at  that ; 
but  the  bulk  smelt  distinctly  of  money. 

And  his  uncle  1 

Ned  had  not  seen  him  for  over  a  year,  and  he  was 
frankly  taken  aback  by  the  change  in  him.  His  face, 
weakly  handsome  as  ever,  hale  still  in  its  thin  ruddiness, 
had  lost  the  cheery  look  which  had  survived  even  the 
death  of  his  only  son,  who  had  "  died  as  a  Pentreath 
should."  This  and  such  vague  comfortings  regarding 
' '  rest, ' '  and  being  ' '  with  his  mother, ' '  and  of  the  youth- 
ful company  whom  ' '  the  gods  love, ' ' — comfortings  with 
which  humanity  has  always  met  bereavement,  had  not 
only  been  on  his  lips,  but  in  his  heart.  He  had  always 
been  an  optimist — and  now?  Anxiety  sat  on  every  fea- 
ture. The  man  was  haggard.  And  what  was  this  griev- 
ance against  Helen  which  made  such  sentences  as  ' '  Mrs. 
Tressilian  will  have  her  own  opinion,  no  doubt, "  or  ' '  You 
must  ask  my  daughter ;  I  cannot  answer  for  her, ' '  quite 
noticeably  frequent  in  his  conversation. 

As  he  sat  listening  while  his  next-door  neighbour,  a 
very  talkative  and  a  very  deaf  lady,  assured  him  that  her 
motor,  which  she  had  bought  in  Paris,  was  the  only  one 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  59 

of  its  kind  in  England,  and  that  it  was  absolutely,  en- 
tirely, shakeless  and  noiseless,  Lord  Blackborough  had 
time  for  cogitation. 

They  were  very  smart  people,  and  it  was  a  very  smart 
luncheon :  champagne,  pdte-de-foie  en  aspic,  liquers,  and 
cigarettes  on  the  lawn.  A  new  regime  certainly  for  the 
kindly  old  Keep,  where,  as  a  boy,  he  had  spent  his  holi- 
days with  his  aunt,  his  mother's  sister.  Yes!  a  new 
regime,  especially  if  the  chauffeurs  were  being  similarly 
regaled  downstairs ! 

And  what  a  fine  old  place  it  was!  set  so  deep  out  of 
the  way  of  the  wind  in  a  hollow  of  old  pines  and  oaks, 
and  yet  so  close  to  the  sea  that  even  now  the  hollow  boom 
of  the  Atlantic  waves  sounded  against  the  shrill  voices 
of  those  smart  women  as  a  bassoon  sounds  against  a  violin. 
Ay!  and  in  the  winter  sou '-westers,  the  rush  and  hush 
of  the  sea  blent  with  the  rush  and  hush  of  the  leaves.  He 
could  imagine  Betty  Cam — h'm,  that  was  Helen's  fault 
for  being  so  tragic !  He  looked  round  for  her,  and  saw 
her  talking  to  Dr.  Ramsay.  Ted  also  was  well  employed, 
hanging  on  Mr.  Hirsch's  lips  as  he  spoke  airily  of  bulls 
and  bears.  Ted,  if  he  didn't  take  care,  would  become  a 
zoologist  also! 

So  thought  Ned  Blackborough  as  he  wandered  away 
from  the  lawns  that  were  still  kept  smooth  and  green, 
towards  the  wilderness  of  garden  beyond.  And  the 
thought  of  money  bringing  the  thought  of  Aura,  he 
smiled,  lit  a  cigar,  and  went  still  further  afield  to  find  a 
certain  peach  tree  that  used  to  have  peaches  on  it. 

The  others  were  happy;  why  should  he  not  have  his 
share  of  enjoyment? 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Helen  and  Dr.  Ramsay 
were  not  enjoying  themselves;  at  least  she  was  not,  for 
he  had  met  her  assertion  that  the  one  wish  of  her  life 
("  since  my  husband's  death  seven  years  ago,"  being 
interpolated  with  the  usual  note  of  resigned  reverence 
in  her  voice)  had  been  to  be  a  hospital  nurse,  with  a  du- 
bious shake  of  the  head. 

"  I  wouldn't  if  I  were  you,"  he  said  slowly.  "  I  rather 


gO  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

doubt  your  being  fit  for  it.  One  requires  a  lot  of  stam- 
ina." 

She  stared  at  him  almost  haughtily.  ' '  But  I  am  very 
strong,  I  assure  you,"  she  replied,  with  a  smile  of  great 
tolerance, ' '  I  daresay  I  look  pale — for  the  Cornish  coast ; 
but,  oh !  I  am  very  strong !  ' ' 

"  Physically,  perhaps."  His  Scotch  accent  gave  the 
qualification  great  precision. 

"Then,  mentally "  she  almost  gasped. 

* '  Mentally,  no, ' '  he  replied  quite  calmly. 

"  Excuse  me,"  she  remarked,  "  but  I  really  do  not 
think  you  know  me  well  enough." 

uDo  I  not?  "  he  remarked,  his  brown  eyes  smiling 
into  hers ;  ' '  you  forget  that  I  am  a  doctor,  and,  Mrs. 
Tressilian,  your  nervous  system  is  at  the  present  moment 
— mind  you,  it's  no  blame — in  absolutely  unstable  equi- 
librium. ' ' 

"  Unstable  equilibrium !    Really,  Dr.  Ramsay " 

"  My  dear  lady,"  he  said,  "  I  have  been  thinking  all 
lunchtime  that  if  you  would  only  allow  yourself  to  be 
hypnotised,  you  would  be  clairvoyant.  I  shouldn  't  won- 
der if  you  would  be  able  to  project  yourself !  and  think 
what  that  might  mean!  Why,  you  might  give  us  a 
clue "  he  paused  quite  excited. 

"And  what  has  that  to  do  with  nursing?  "  she  asked 
coldly. 

"  It  makes  for  a  temperament  that  is  too — what  shall 
I  call  it  ? — unpractical.  You  have  a  gift — a  great  gift — 
but  it  is  not  for  nursing ;  you  are  too  sentimental. ' ' 

"And  how  do  you  arrive  at  that  conclusion?  "  she 
asked,  interested  in  spite  of  herself. 

' '  Excuse  me!"  He  touched  the  muslin  cuff  she  wore 
with  a  hand  she  could  not  help  admiring:  it  was  so 
shapely,  so  strong,  so  skilful-looking,  albeit  so  small  for 
a  man  of  his  height. 

Yet  her  eyes  flashed  a  quick  challenge  at  him. 
"  You  mean  that  it  is  sentimental  and  unpractical  to 
mourn  those  one  loves.    I  do  not  agree  with  you." 

The  sunlight  glinting  through  his  eyes  turned  them 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  61 

almost  to  amber.  There  was  a  world  of  gentle  raillery  in 
them  at  which,  however,  it  was  impossible  to  be  angry. 

"  To  wear  your  heart  on  your  sleeve? — yes,"  he  re- 
plied. "Ah,  Mrs.  Tressilian,  believe  me,  you  are  lost  to 
the  world !  What  a  wife  you  would  have  made  with  your 
ardent  imagination  to  some  grovelling  slave  tied  down, 
as  I  am,  by  the  nose,  to  the  body  of  things!  But  that 
is  another  story,  and  so  is  clairvoyance,  though  in  your 
present  state  I'm  convinced  you  could  see.  The  point 
at  issue  remains  that "  he  paused. 

"  Well !  "she  asked  almost  eagerly. 

He  laughed.  "  My  patients  say  I  prescribe  Paradise, 
when  I  beg  them  not  to  fash  themselves.  But  there  is 
one  thing  I  have  found  out.  I  can't  tell  you  why,  but 
worry  stops  the  working  of  the  vital  machine.  It  gets 
into  the  cogs  somehow  and  clogs  the  wheels.  Then  you 
fall  back  on  reserve- force,  and  having  exhausted  that, 
feel  exhausted.  We  doctors  nowadays  are  helpless  before 
the  feeling  of  hustle.  We  prescribe  rest-cures,  but  you 
can  worry  as  much,  perhaps  more,  on  the  flat  of  the  back  J 
The  remedy  lies  with  the  patient.  And  you  have  so  much 
imagination,  Mrs.  Tressilian.  Used  cheerfully,  it  is  the 
most  valuable  therapeutic  agent  we  have.  Ah !  here  comes 
your  father.  Some  of  the  hotel  people  want  to  take  us  all 
back  to  tea,  and  I  expect  he  is  coming  to  ask  you  about 
it."  -,--^- 

She  looked  at  him  steadily,  but  he  showed  no  con- 
sciousness, and  she  turned  to  meet  Sir  Geoffrey  feeling 
baffled.  She  had  known  about  and  had  meant  to  avoid 
this  tea ;  but  something  in  the  very  directness  of  Dr.  Ram- 
say's unsought  diagnosis  roused  her  to  show  him  its  in- 
correctness. 

Anyhow  she  found  herself  rather  to  her  disgust  not 
only  going  to  the  hotel,  but  going  in  the  front  seat  of 
Mr.  Hirsch's  motor. 

And  once  in  the  wide,  south-western  verandah — which 
was  built  so  close  to  the  perpendicular  cliff  that  leaning 
over  the  balustrade  you  could  see  nothing  but  the  sea- 
while  the  salt  wind  clung  to  her  cheek  like  the  fierce  kiss 


62  A   SOVEREIGN  REMEDY 

of  a  lover,  bringing  with  it  an  unwonted  flush  of  colour, 
she  was  forced  to  admit  that  the  place  had  its  charms; 
that  it  was  not  all  vulgarised.  There  was  laughter  and 
music,  of  course  (both  of  them  loud),  about  the  tea- 
tables,  but  at  the  further  end  comparative  peace  reigned 
around  the  couch  of  an  invalid  lady,  whose  little  girl 
was  apparently  a  great  friend  of  Sir  Geoffrey's.  He 
was  always  so  good  to  children,  she  remembered  with 
a  pang,  picturing  herself  as  she  was  at  little  Maidie's 
age. 

The  child 's  mother,  Amy  Massingham,  was  very  dark — 
dark,  with  those  large  lustrous  eyes,  and  very  white 
teeth,  which  suggest  Indian  blood;  and  she  must  have 
been  beautiful  before  languor  and  pallor  had  come  in- 
stead of  rich  colour  and  vivacity.  Still,  even  at  her  best 
she  could  never  have  touched  the  exceeding  brightness 
and  beauty  of  her  little  daughter  Maidie.  She  was  in- 
comparable. A  little  vivid  tropical  bird  flitting  about  Sir 
Geoffrey,  chattering,  her  small  round  face  glowing  with 
brilliant  tints,  sparkling,  dimpling,  her  teeth  showing  in 
a  flash  of  smiles  that  seemed  to  irradiate  her  body  and 
soul,  while  her  cloud  of  dark  hair,  still  golden  bronze  at 
its  curly  tip3,  floated  about  with  her. 

She  was  like  a  ripe  pomegranate,  yellow  and  red-brown 
in  her  dainty  little  yellow  silk  frock. 

Perched  now  on  Sir  Geoffrey's  long  lap,  she  was 
stroking  his  soft  moleskin  knees,  and  swinging  herself 
backwards  and  forwards  rhythmically. 

"And  when  daddie  comes  flom  India,"  she  insisted, 
"  we  won't  go  'way  and  leave  'oo,  Sir  Geoffley,  will  we, 
mumsie?  We 'em  goin'  to  stop  at  Seaview  always,  an' 
always,  an '  always.    Ain  't  we,  mums  ?  ' ' 

Amy  Massingham  smiled  gently :  she  did  everything  so 
very  gently  that  she  failed,  as  it  were,  to  do  anything  at 
all.  Her  impact  was  not  strong  enough  to  move  any  fixed 
object. 

' '  Well,  my  precious !  It  would  be  delightful,  and  dear 
Sir  Geoffrey  is  so  kind,  isn't  he?  but  I'm  afraid  dadda 
can't  manage  it.    You  see,  Mrs.  Tressilian,  darling  old 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  63 

Dick  is  only  home  on  short  leave — really  only  to  see  me — 
but  his  people  will  want  to  have  him  first  thing. ' ' 

"  Oh,  mumsie!  We'se  goin'  to  have  him  the  firstest 
thing  of  all, ' '  protested  Maidie,  who  was  now  on  the  floor, 
fondling  the  big  curly  retriever  who  was  always  Sir 
Geoffrey's  shadow,  "  for  his  ship '11  pass  over  there — 
right  over  there,  don't  you  see,  Mrs.  T'sllian." 

She  was  by  this  time  leaning  over  the  balustrade  be- 
side Helen  and  looked  up  at  her — such  a  sparkling,  bril- 
liant little  maid ! — with  fearless  eye.  Something  in  the 
childless  woman's  heart  went  out  to  her,  and  beyond  her 
again  to  the  grave  far  away  under  the  orange-trees  of  the 
man  who  was  dying  when  she  married  him.  If  she  could 
have  had  such  a  child ! — it  had  been  better,  perhaps. 

"  Supposing  we  were  to  put  up  a  signal  here,  saying, 
'  Mumsie  and  Maidie  waiting  for  you/  wouldn't  it  be 
fun?  "  she  said,  smiling. 

1 '  Will  you  do  it  f  ' '  said  the  child  quickly. 

She  shook  her  head.  i '  It  was  only  supposing,  Maidie, ' ' 
she  replied. 

The  little  brilliant  creature's  face  fell.  "  Oh!  I  wis' 
you  would — make  'em  stop  right  here,  just  this  corner. 
I  want  him  to  stop,  an'  then  I'd  go  on  the  ship  too,  an' 
sail,  an'  sail,  an'  sail."  She  had  forgotten  her  disap- 
pointment in  the  new  idea.  That  is  what  the  world  does 
generally,  thought  Helen ;  and  yet 

"  I  suppose  you  love  your  father,  don't  you,  Maidie?  " 
she  asked  suddenly. 

The  child  looked  at  her  gravely.  "  'Normous  much," 
she  replied,  repeating  her  stock  phrase.  "  An'  I  love  Sir 
Geoffley  'normous  much  too.  We  're  goin '  to  live  together, 
an '  I  'm  to  be  his  darlin '  for  ever  an '  ever  an '  nay !  Ain  't 
we?    Ain't  we?  " 

And  she  flung  herself  into  his  arms  as  he  approached 
them,  an  unreserved  joyous  bundle  of  curls,  smiles,  and 
dimples.  His  face  relaxed  from  the  hard  look  of  pressing 
anxiety  it  had  worn  all  day.  He  caught  the  child  up, 
tossing  her  like  a  feather  above  his  long  length,  then 
cuddling  her  close  to  kiss. 


g4  A.    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

1 '  For  ever,  and  ever,  and  aye !  "  he  echoed ;  * l  Never 
fear,  Maidie,  I  'm  yours  to  command. ' ' 

Then  he  set  her  down  and  turned  to  his  daughter. 
' '  Helen !  "  he  said,  ' '  I  've  some  business  here  which  may 
keep  me  awhile.  You'll  drive  back  with  Hirsch,  of 
course. ' ' 

She  did  not  meet  his  eyes,  but  kept  hers  far  out  at  sea. 

"  I  think  not,  father,"  she  said  gently,  "  I  want  to 
walk  home  with  Ned.    I  have  something  to  say  to  him. ' ' 

Sir  Geoffrey  looked  at  her  resentfully.  "Ned  has 
found  a  sick  Indian  friend  upstairs  and  won't  be  avail- 
able— you'd  better  go." 

She  turned  round  then.    ' '  No,  father,  I  can 't.    It  isn  't 

fair — on  him.    Even  coming  here "     She  broke  off, 

and  turned  to  the  sea  again. 

He  came  closer,  hesitated.  "  Nell,"  he  said  almost 
pitifully,  "  can't  you — to  please  me ?  He  really  is  a  good 
fellow  at  bottom.  I  wouldn't  ask  it  otherwise.  It  would 
free  me — from  you  don't  know  what.  And,  my  God !  in 
London  half  the  pretty  women  one  meets  are  married  to 
such  awful  bounders. ' ' 

"It  is  because  Mr.  Hirsch  isn't  a  bounder-— because 
he  really  is  in  some  ways  a  good  fellow,"  she  said,  "  that 
I  will  not — I  can  walk  back  with  the  others. ' ' 

He  stood  looking  at  her  with  anger  and  affection  in  his 
eye  for  a  moment,  then  strode  off  to  say  good-bye  to 
Mrs.  Massingham. 

* '  I  suppose  your  husband  may  drop  in  any  moment, ' ' 
he  said  cheerfully. 

"Any  moment,"  she  echoed,  "we  are  so  excited, 
Maidie  and  I.  This  morning  we  saw  such  a  big  vessel 
passing,  right  away  on  the  horizon.  The  manager 
thought  it  might  be  a  transport, ' ' 

Maidie  looked  up  and  nodded  her  cloud  of  curls. 
"  But  it  wasn't,  you  see,"  she  said;  "  for  she's— (here 
she  nodded  again  at  Helen)— goin'  to  signal  '  Stop 
here!  '" 

"  That  was  only  supposing,  Maidie!  " 

"  Supposing   an'   supposing    an'    supposin'.      'Free 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  65 

•V 

times  'free  is  'free,"  quoted  Maidie  slyly,  "  Just  you 
wait  an'  see." 

"  Yes!  wait  and  see,"  laughed  Sir  Geoffrey;  "  Good- 
bye, little  one !  Next  time,  I  suppose,  daddy  will  have  put 
my  nose  out  of  joint,  and  you  won't  have  anything  to  say 
to  me— eh?  " 

She  grew  crimson  to  her  ear-tips.  ' '  Never !  never ! 
never!  "  she  cried,  stamping  her  foot  wilfully;  "we's 
goin'  to  live  together  for  everan'everan'-aye !  " 

The  bystanders  laughed  at  her  sudden  passion,  and 
Sir  Geoffrey's  thin,  ruddy  face  actually  flushed  a  still 
deeper  red. 

"All  right,  little  lady,"  he  said  half -sheepishly. 
"  Never  you  fear!  I'll  keep  my  promise  for  ever  an' 
never  an'-naye!  " 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  London  footman  was  rolling  out  the  dressing-gong 
as  if  he  had  been  apprenticed  to  a  bronze,  when  Ned 
Blackborough  returned  from  his  sick  friend  at  the  Sea- 
view  Hotel ;  but  he  took  no  heed  to  its  warning,  and  turn- 
ing down  a  side  passage  sought  a  room  in  the  older  part 
of  the  house  where,  as  a  rule,  his  uncle  was  to  be  found. 

And  sure  enough,  there  he  was,  seated  at  his  so-called 
writing-table,  and  turning  round  a  trifle  startled,  pen 
in  hand,  at  the  sound  of  the  opening  door.  But  Ned's 
quick  eye  detected  neither  paper  nor  ink.  The  pen,  then, 
was  a  mere  shelter  against  the  unlooked-f or  visitor. 

It  was  a  quaint  room,  full  from  floor  to  ceiling  of  the 
man  and  his  immediate  forbears,  that  succession  of  Sir 
Richards  and  Sir  Geoffreys  who  had  inherited  the  ever- 
lessening  estate  of  Pentreath  for  the  last  two  hundred 
years.  Fishing-rods,  guns,  hunting-horns,  and  duelling- 
pistols  testified  to  their  amusements,  a  tin  box  labelled 
"  Pentreath  Estate  Records,"  to  their  occupation,  and 
a  complete  set  of  the  Annual  Register  and  Gentleman's 
Magazine  to  their  literary  tastes.  There  was  a  weighing- 
machine  also,  and  in  a  glass  case  the  sword  presented  to 
the  then  Sir  Richard  by  Prince  Charlie;  for  the  Pen- 
treaths  were  always  on  the  losing  side  in  everything. 
Yet  they  had  always  held  their  heads  high  in  the  past. 

But  now  Sir  Geoffrey's  haggard  face  looked  as  if  it 
had  been  seeking  refuge  in  the  hands,  one  of  which  he 
held  out  in  kindly  greeting. 

"  So  it's  you,  Ned!— like  old  times.  I'm  glad  to  see 
you  back  again,  my  boy. ' ' 

"  And  I'm  glad  to  be  back,  sir,"  he  replied,  paused, 
and  then  feeling  there  was  no  good  in  beating  about  the 
bush,  made  a  plunge. 

66 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  67 

"I've  got  something  to  say  to  you,  sir.  "We  are  leav- 
ing to-morrow  morning,  and  I  may  not  have  another 
opportunity "  he  paused  again. 

"  Not  much  time  before  dinner,"  said  Sir  Geoffrey, 
consulting  his  watch.  "  But  fire  away.  Going  to  get 
married? — eh?  " 

"  Perhaps,"  said  Ned  coolly,  "  but  this  is  about  the 
hotel." 

"  Damn  the  hotel!  "What's  up  now?  "  Never  was 
curse  more  heartily  or  more  hopelessly  given.  "  Well — 
go  on." 

"  I  don't  know  who  is  responsible  for  installing  the 
electric  light,  but  it  isn't  safe.  The  wires  are  always 
fusing.  They  keep  it  very  dark,  but  my  friend — who  is 
a  bit  of  an  electrical  engineer  himself — found  out  when 
he  was  awake  last  night " 

Sir  Geoffrey's  face  was  hidden  by  his  hand  again  as 
he  interrupted  Ned  with  a  short  laugh. 

"  Oh !  that 's  it  —  why,  they  always  '  krab  '  each 
other's  work — always!  And — and  your  money's  safe 
enough  now ;  the  place  is  insured. ' ' 

"  I  wasn't  thinking  of  the  money,  sir,"  cried  Ned 
outraged.  "  I  was  thinking  of  all  those  women  and 
children. ' ' 

Sir  Geoffrey's  face  came  up  from  his  hand  full  of 
such  passionate  resentment  that  Ned  was  fairly  startled. 
' '  By  Gad,  sir !  "  he  cried,  ' '  and  what  right  have  you 
to  suppose  I  don't  think  of  them?  night  and  day,  sir — 
day  and  night!  "  Then  his  eyes  finding  Ned's,  he 
stretched  out  his  hand  towards  him  in  almost  childish 
helplessness.  * '  Oh,  Ned !  Ned !  "  he  said,  ' '  you  can 't 
think  what  a  relief  it  is  to  talk  of  this  with — with  one 
of  ourselves  —  with  —  with  a  gentleman  instead  of  a 
cursed  money  grubber  —  though  I  will  say  this  for 
Hirsch,  he  isn  't  a  cad. ' ' 

"  Then  you've  known  of  this  before,  sir,"  said  Ned 
slowly.    "  I  see " 

' '  Known !  My  God !  Ned,  what  haven 't  I  known 
since  the  devil  entered  into  me  to  start  this  thing!     I 


68  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

wouldn't  tell  you,  Ned,  for  I  knew  you'd  be  like  Helen; 
but  I  told  the  heir,  and  he  liked  it.  All  he  wants  is 
money.  And  I — all  I  wanted  was  to  make  something — 
just  something  for  Helen  after  poor  old  Jeff — went. 
He'd  have  looked  after  her,  you  see — the  Pentreaths  have 
always  kept  our  women  well — always  cared  for  them. 
But  he  died!  Ay!  " — here  his  trembling  lip  stiffened 
itself,  "  died  as  a  Pentreath  should  for  his  Queen  and 
his  country." 

In  the  pause  that  ensued  Ned  thought  bitterly  that  he 
had  died  in  an  attempt  to  hold  the  yeomanry  of  England 
from  showing  the  road  to  the  rear.  That  was  the  truth, 
and  behind  that  truth  what  a  record  of  ignorance,  inepti- 
tude, greed  of  gain.  Nothing  for  nothing,  not  even 
patriotism,  was  the  modern  motto ;  a  cheap  loaf  and  a  dis- 
integrated empire — caveat  emptor  even  in  the  face  of 
war. 

"  You  can't  believe  it  all,  Ned,"  went  on  Sir  Geoffrey, 
speaking  now  with  less  passion  but  more  eagerness,  as  if 
his  memories  brimmed  over,  ' '  until  you  've  been  through 
with  it.  I  meant  it  all  to  be  above  board,  but  it  wasn't. 
The  jobbery  was  awful.  Every  man  just  clamouring 
for  money.  A  gentleman  oughtn't  to  touch  a  thing  like 
that — it's  pitch,  Ned.  He  has  to  keep  in  with  builders 
and  masons  and  plumbers — Oh,  my  God ! — the  plumbers ! 
— all  thinking  of  nothing  but  '  pay,  pay,  pay.'  Ah! 
Kipling  knew  the  game  when  he  wrote  that  refrain  for 
England's  heroism,  her  patriotism.  It  will  go  down  to 
the  ages,  Ned,  as  one  man's  insight  into  what  we  Eng- 
lish are  becoming."  He  was  walking  up  and  down  the 
room  now,  restlessly.  "  They  were  all  bad,  but  Jenkin 
was  the  worst — and  he  ought  to  have  known.  It  was  his 
nephew  who  put  in  the  electric  plant.  You'll  say  I  ought 
to  have  struck,  Ned,  and  so  I  ought,  but  your  money  was 
gone,  Ned,  and  their 's  too,  poor  devils! — a  lot  of  the 
farmers  and  people  only  put  in  a  few  pounds  because  it 
was  my  idea,  you  see.  It  had  to  go  on.  And  what  did 
I  know  about  sea-sand  and  second-class  putty.  It  isn't 
gentleman's  work  and  that's  a  fact.    But  the  jolly  old 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  69 

Atlantic  knew  sharp  enough  and  sent  salt  through  the 
plaster  and  sea-spray  through  the  concrete.  .  .  .  Then, 
when  we  were  in  a  bad  way,  and  Jenkin — pettifogging 
tradesman! — all  for  saving  every  penny,  I  met  Hirsch. 
Between  ourselves,  Ned,  he  began  by  fancying  Helen, 
and  I — I — well!  He  isn't  a  cad,  you  know,  and  half 
those  men  one  meets  are;  yet  their  wives  don't — don't 
seem  to  mind." 

He  paused  and  looked  at  Ned  Blackborough  appeal- 
ingly,  but  he  was  inexorable. 

"  Hardly  the  man  I  should  have  thought  you'd  have 
chosen,  sir,  as  the  father  of  your  grandchildren." 

Sir  Geoffrey  took  it  full  in  the  face  without  flinching. 
"  No,"  he  said  simply,  "  I  suppose  not.  But  I've  gone 
down,  Ned,  gone  down  terribly.  I  sometimes  wonder  if 
she — if  your  aunt,  I  mean,  would  know  me  again  if — 
if  I  saw  her." 

He  took  a  turn  or  two  without  speaking,  then  gave  an 
afterthought  excuse  which  made  Ned  smile,  and  yet  feel 
inclined  to  curse. 

"  But  there  mightn't  be  any  children,  you  know. 
What  good  would  they  be — the  old  place  has  gone  from 
the  Pentreaths — gone  utterly.  Let  me  see — where  was 
I?  Oh  yes!  Hirsch  came  and  saw  it,  and  said  it  was 
the  finest  site  in  Britain.  And  so  it  is.  There's  not  a 
better  for  health  or  beauty  than  Cam's  point.  So  he 
put  us  on  our  feet  again,  and  spent  an  awful  lot  on 
what  he  called  '  colour  wash.'  At  least  it  .seems  an 
awful  lot  to  me,  and  Jenkin  was  wild.  But  we  had  to 
run  it,  or  the  new  company  wouldn  't  have  caught  on — we 
have  to  make  it  fizz,  you  see — but  I  wish  to  God  I  'd  never 
begun, — I  wish  to  God  I'd  never  begun " 

He  was  still  walking  up  and  down  muttering  to 
himself. 

"  And  meanwhile,"  asked  Ned,  in  spite  of  his  supreme 
pity,  "  what  is  to  be  done?  The  wires  may  fuse  any 
moment — so  Charteris  thinks " 

Sir  Geoffrey  caught  at  the  doubt — "  It's  not  so  bad 
as  that — I  don't  think  it's  so  bad.    When  the  season's 


70  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

over  and  the  new  company  secure,  we  shall  put  a  new 
plant  in  and  insure  the  place  properly.  And  meanwhile 
we  are  awfully  careful.  I  was  two  hours  there  to-day 
myself,  seeing  what  the  workmen  had  done;  and  it  was 
quite  a  little  thing — put  out  in  a  moment." 

"  But  you  don't  know  anything  about  electricity,  do 
you,  sir  ?  "  asked  Ned  quietly,  ' '  and  I  thought  you  said 
it  was  insured." 

Sir  Geoffrey's  face  reddened.  "  Yes,  in  a  way. 
Hirsch  insured  when  he  came  in.  He  wouldn't  put  his 
money  in  without  it." 

' '  Would  he  put  his  wife  and  children  in,  I  wonder  ?  ' : 
asked  Ned  bitterly.  "  But  I  still  don't  quite  under- 
stand about  the  insurance " 

Sir  Geoffrey  fidgeted.  "  I'll  get  Hirsch  to  explain. 
It's  all  right,  I  believe,  though.  But  they'll  insure  any- 
thing nowadays,  if  you  pay  a  decent  premium — any 
mortal  thing. ' '  He  paused  and  stood  the  image  of  hope- 
less perplexity;  and  then — rather  to  his  relief — the 
dinner  gong  sounded.  "  Good  Lord!  And  I'm  not 
dressed,"  he  muttered,  "  we'd  better  go." 

But  as  he  reached  the  stairs  where  they  divided,  he 
held  out  that  friendly,  welcoming,  family  hand  again, 
saying : — ' '  Thanks,  Ned,  it 's  been  such  an  awful  relief 
not  to  be  thinking  of  money.  I  suppose  when  one  comes 
into  so  much  as  you  have,  that — that  you  don't  think  of 
it  any  more  ?  ' ' 

Was  it  so,  Ned  Blackborough  wondered.  Hardly ;  for 
Mr.  Hirsch  had  millions  and  still  thought  of  more.  No ! 
he  personally  had  been  tired  of  money  for  some  time. 
Caveat  emptor  was  an  excellent  legal  if  not  absolutely 
moral  axiom;  but  when  men  allowed  your  millions  to 
confuse  the  issue  in  their  treatment  of  you,  then — then 
one  could  wish  the  millions  were  not  in  the  equation ! 

And  of  late — ever,  in  fact,  since  he  had  left  the  float- 
ing deposit  and  had  seen  Aura — he  smiled  at  the  re- 
membrance of  her  standing  framed  in  scarlet  and  white, 
handing  back  the  sovereign  with  that  peremptory  ' '  Take 
it  please !  ' ' 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  71 

Why  should  not  he  and  she  go  forth  in  the  wilder- 
ness in  their  sandalled  feet  to  forget — and  to  remember  ? 
That  was  life.  To  forget  so  much,  and  to  remember  so 
much  that  one  had  forgotten. 

He  pulled  himself  up  after  a  time  from  the  unaccus- 
tomed line  of  thought  or  reverie,  telling  himself  it  was 
all  nonsense — sheer  nonsense.    Yet  it  was  attractive. 

Suddenly  the  words  ' '  Go !  sell  all  that  thou  hast, ' '  re- 
curred to  him,  making  him  wonder  if  it  were  a  hard  say- 
ing or  no.  For  the  moment  he  felt  inclined  to  obey  it 
literally. 

They  were  halfway  through  dinner  ere  Lord  Black- 
borough  appeared  at  the  table.  To  begin  with  he  had 
wired  to  his  valet  for  dress  clothes,  and,  accustomed  to 
the  routine  of  good  service,  had  expected  to  find  them 
in  his  room.  They  were  not,  however,  and  only  by  the 
help  of  a  tearful  little  Cornish  maiden  at  whom  all  the 
racketty  job  servants  from  London  were  swearing  pro- 
fusely as  she  fled  about  trying  to  do  everything  at  once, 
did  he  discover  his  suit-case  in  the  servants'  hall,  where 
two  lordly  chauffeurs  accosted  him  scornfully  as  some 
one's  belated  valet.  He  escaped  from  them — and  from 
the  cook  who,  solemnly  drunk,  was  using  inconceivable 
language  to  the  entree  she  was  dishing  up — only  to  find 
that  his  man  had  forgotten  to  put  the  studs  in  his  shirt. 
Whereupon  he  also  cursed  as  he  broke  his  finger-nails 
over  the  job.  And  yet  all  the  time  at  the  back  of  his 
brain,  the  thought  of  Aura  lingered,  and  in  the  front  of 
it  his  uncle's  face,  so  foolishly,  childishly,  helplessly 
wanting  money. 

What  else  had  the  old  man  expected  but  chicanery 
when  he  dabbled  in  the  Pool.  It  was  nothing  but  a 
clutching  whirlpool  of  hands  trying  to  grasp  at  a  golden 
sovereign  in  the  centre !  Every  one  clutched,  he  as  much 
as  any  one.  Then  with  a  jar,  his  mind  reverted  to  the 
shade  of  many  a  tree  he  had  seen  in  India,  where  men 
lived,  and  apparently  lived  happily,  possessed  of  noth- 
ing but  their  souls,  devoid  of  all  things  save  the  inevi- 
table garment  of  flesh. 


72  4   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

The  shade  of  a  Bo-tree ! 

This  certainly  was  not  it,  he  thought,  as  with  a  smiling 
apology  he  slipped  into  the  empty  place  and  found  him- 
self in  the  battle-ground  of  a  heated  discussion. 

A  trifle  dazzling  surely,  these  lights  and  flowers  and 
fair  women.  Helen  looked  well  in  white  at  the  head  of 
the  table  between  Mr.  Hirsch  and  Dr.  Ramsay;  and, 
thank  Heaven!  she  had  left  off  weepers  in  the  evening. 
What  a  difference  there  was  between  lace  and  stiff 
crimped  muslin ;  and  how  young  she  looked. 

The  rapidity  of  thought  is  immeasurable,  the  velocity 
of  its  vibration  untranslatable  in  terms  of  mere  human 
flesh  and  blood.  These  thoughts  and  millions  of  others 
suggested  by  the  whole  entourage  which  in  a  second  be- 
came part  of  Ned  Blackborough  's  life-experience,  passed 
into  his  mind  and  left  him  free  at  once  to  listen  to  his 
cousin's  gay — 

"  Here's  Ned!  I'll  appeal  to  him!  Do  you  think  it 
fair  that  we  women  shouldn't  have  votes?  " 

"  We  shall  have  to  settle  our  terminology  first,  Helen," 
he  replied  in  the  same  tone.  ' '  What  is  fair  ?  I  presume 
what  Mrs.  Tressilian  considers  to  be  right." 

"  That  isn't  fair  if  you  like,"  she  retorted.  "  Fair 
is  " — she  paused. 

"  Exactly  so!  "  laughed  Peter  Ramsay.  "  Is  there 
an  outside  standard  or  is  there  not?  That  is  the 
question. ' ' 

Mr.  Hirsch,  who  always  wore  white  waistcoats  in  the 
evening  (they  were  not  so  becoming  as  black  ones)  an- 
swered it. 

"  Of  course  there  is  a  standard — the  general  consen- 
sus of  opinion." 

"  Made  up  of  units?  "  suggested  Dr.  Ramsay. 

"  Quite  so!  "  retorted  the  financier,  "  but  it  gives  the 
limit  of  safety.  Between  certain  lines  you  can  negotiate 
— even  on  the  Stock  Exchange,  ha,  ha !  "  His  laugh  was 
curiously  explosive  and  shook  him  from  head  to  foot. 

"  But  surely  there  is  a  standard,"  said  Helen  softly. 

"  There  is  a  standard  which,  collectively,  we  accept, 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  73 

Helen.  It  comes  back  in  the  end  to  our  personal  verdict, 
I  'm  afraid, ' '  said  her  cousin, ' '  and  it  is  curious  how  that 
verdict  varies,"  he  continued  addressing  Mr.  Hirsch. 
' '  You,  I  expect,  believe  in  the  law  of  supply  and  demand. 
Now,  I  feel,  somehow,  that  if  I  were  to  charge  a  thousand 
pounds  for  a  glass  of  water  which  a  distracted  husband 
wanted  for  his  dying  wife,  I  should  be  doing  a  detest- 
ably mean  thing,  even  though  the  man  was  quite  willing 
and  able  to  pay  for  it."    There  was  a  pause. 

"  That  is  rather  a  stiff  example,"  said  Ted  Crutten- 
den;  "  but  theoretically,  a  man  surely  has  the  right  to 
get  the  best  price  he  can  for  his  wares;  without  that 
axiom  commerce  would  come  to  an  end. ' ' 

"  What  would  the  world  be  without  it,  I  wonder?  " 
remarked  Dr.  Ramsay.  "  Supposing  it  was  made  penal 
for  any  one  to  take  more  than  ten  per  cent,  profit " 

"  I  should  be  a  pauper,"  laughed  Mr.  Hirsch,  his 
bright  eyes  dancing.  "  That  would  not  suit  me  at  all. 
Why,  I  should  have  nothing  over  to  give  away,  and 
my  charities  cover  my  sins.  Imagine  it,  a  world  where 
there  was  no  '  coup/  where  your  brains  were  of  no  use 
to  you.  Pah!  "  He  poured  himself  out  a  glass 
of  water  abstractedly,  and  drank  it  as  if  to  take  away 
the  taste. 

He  was  in  great  form  that  night,  the  rebuff  of  Helen 's 
refusal  to  drive  home  with  him  having  acted  on  his 
abundant  vitality  much  as  the  attempt  of  a  rival  on  the 
Stock  Exchange  to  limit  his  freedom  of  action  would 
have  done,  that  is,  it  stimulated  his  determination  to  do 
as  he  chose. 

And  the  others  seemed  in  high  spirits  also,  so  that 
even  Ned  forgot  the  very  existence  of  the  Seaview  Hotel, 
until  some  one  said  laughingly  that  there  must  be  elec- 
tricity in  the  air,  or  magnetism,  or  hypnotism,  and  sug- 
gested a  seance  of  some  kind. 

"  No,"  cried  Lady  Wrexham,  who  posed  as  being  well 
in  with  the  Psychical  Research  Society.  l '  Let  us  crystal 
gaze — or  stay,  a  magic  mirror.  Only  a  little  ink  in  the 
palm  of  the  hand,  Mrs.  Tresillian.    It  so  often  comes  off 


74  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

when  I'm  in  the  room,  and  I'm  sure  you  could  '  scry/ 
I  see  it  in  your  eyes. ' ' 

Helen's  caught  Dr.  Ramsay's  instantly,  almost  resent- 
fully, but  he  was  silent. 

"  Perhaps  I'm  a  witch  also,  who  knows?  "  she  said, 
speaking  at  him.  "  Old  Betty  Cam  was  an  ancestress  of 
ours,  wasn  't  she,  father  1  and  she  was  the  devil 's  own  war- 
lock. But  you  shan't  be  disappointed,  Lady  Wrexham. 
There  is  a  real  magical  crystal  that  came  from  Thibet 
somewhere  in  the  house.  I  will  find  it  for  you  to-morrow, 
or  rather  to-day,  for  it  is  past  twelve  o'clock.  Time  for 
every  one  who  isn  't  a  witch  to  be  in  her  bed,  surely. ' ' 

There  was  a  decision  about  the  remark  which  would 
not  be  gainsaid,  so  the  ladies,  some  with,  some  without 
lights,  dawdled  upstairs  like  wise  and  foolish  virgins, 
calling  down  jokes  and  good-nights  to  the  men  on  their 
way  to  the  billiard-room,  while  Ned  Blackborough,  seiz- 
ing his  opportunity,  waylaid  Mr.  Hirsch  and  begged  for 
five  minutes  in  Sir  Geoffrey's  den. 

"  About  the  hotel,"  echoed  Mr.  Hirsch  when  Ned 
broached  the  subject.  "  Pardon!  But  excuse  me  if  I 
change  my  cigarette  for  a  cigar.  There  is  always  so 
much  to  be  said  concerning  that  business. ' ' 

He  spoke  with  a  smile,  but  his  face  had  hardened  at 
once,  and  Ned,  listening,  could  not  but  admire  his  com- 
panion's uncompromising  directness.  He  was  aware  of 
course,  he  said,  that  the  money  Sir  Geoffrey  had  in- 
vested was  a  loan  from  Lord  Blackborough,  and  there- 
fore he  treated  him,  as  a  shareholder,  a  large  shareholder, 
with  absolute  freedom. 

Well !  Mr.  Hirsch  had  found  Sir  Geoffrey  in  difficul- 
ties, and  had  helped  him.  Why?  Because,  having  a 
great  penchant  for  Mrs.  Tressilian,  he  was  glad  to  be  of 
use.  The  hotel  would  practically  have  to  be  rebuilt,  At 
present  its  condition  would  disgrace  a  jerry-built  villa 
near  London.  And  they  had  perpetrated  this  inconceiv- 
able sham  in  full  face  of  the  Atlantic. 

But  it  was  always  the  way  when  such  schemes  were 
not  properly  floated  at  first.     There  never  was  enough 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  75 

money  to  allow  for  the  inevitable  leakage.  Then  little 
men  had  little  ways,  and  the  methods  of  a  tuppenny -ha' 
penny  ring,  like  this  had  been,  were  simply  horrible. 

But  the  site  was  gigantic,  absolutely  gigantic,  and  if 
you  could  only  get  rid  of  that  bloated  mechanic  Jenkin 
and  his  gang,  you  could  make  anything  of  it.  But  they 
were  incurably  vulgar — they  had  wanted  a  gramaphone 
in  the  hall,  they  allowed  one  in  the  steward's  room. 

The  words  reminded  Ned  that,  as  he  walked  up  to 
the  hotel,  lost  in  admiration  of  that  marvellous  sea  surg- 
ing against  the  sheer  cliff,  he  had  been  greeted  by  shrieks 
of  laughter  and  the  sound  of  a  double  shuffle  done  to 
the  latest  music  hall  "  catch  on."  And  he  smiled. 
Hirsch  was  right.  It  was  incurably  vulgar.  Who  was 
it  who  said  that,  since  nowadays  he  had  to  choose  between 
solitude  and  vulgarity,  he  chose  the  former  ? 

Mr.  Hirsch 's  cigar  had  actually  gone  out  in  his  irri- 
tation, but  he  was  alight  again  and  went  on. 

Regarding  the  insurance  ?  Yes.  He  had  made  a  tem- 
porary arrangement  to  secure  his  own  money  and  Sir 
Geoffrey 's,  and  a  little  over ;  you  could  secure  anything 
nowadays  by  a  high  enough  premium.  In  fact,  the  best 
thing  that  could  happen  now,  if  he  might  be  excused  for 
saying  so,  was — was  a  fresh  start — without  Jenkin !  The 
hotel  would  practically  have  to  be  rebuilt  anyhow  at 
the  end  of  the  season.  Meanwhile,  regarding  the  electric 
light.  It  was  bad — that  was  Jenkin  again — but  they 
were  exercising  extreme  care,  and  could  do  no  more. 

"  But  supposing,"  began  Ned. 

"  My  dear  Lord  Blackborough, "  said  Mr.  Hirsch,  with 
a  curious  smile  as  he  arose  and  pulled  down  his  white 
waistcoat,  ' '  I  never  deal  in  suppositions.  As  a  business 
man,  I  can't  afford  it.  I  know  this  has  been  worrying 
Sir  Geoffrey,  who  has  old-fashioned  ideas  of  responsibil- 
ity, but — ah!  here  he  comes.  I  was  just  saying,  sir, 
how  disturbed  you  were  this  morning  about  the  slight 
alarm  at  the  Seaview  last  night.  But,  as  I  told  you,  it 
really  lessens  the  odds  of  its  occurring  again.  To  make 
any  fuss  just  at  present,  when  you  need  to  get  all  the 


7g  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

money  you  can  in  order  to  start  the  thing  fair,  would 
be  suicidal.  I  don't,  in  fact,  see  that  we  are  bound  to 
do  any  more  than  we  are  doing.  There  is  a  certain  risk 
in  all  large  buildings  as  badly  supplied  with  water  as 
this  one  is.  But  surely  one  must  credit  people  with  eyes. 
Caveat  Emptor!  Lord  Blackborough,  Caveat  Emptor! 
That  immoral  but  comfortable  piece  of  wisdom  is  the 
backbone  of  all  reasonable  speculation.  Good-night.  If 
I  may,  I'll  have  some  whisky  and  water  in  the  billiard 
room  on  my  way  upstairs." 

Ned  came  back  from  the  door  and  looked  at  his  uncle. 

"  Well,  sir,"  he  said,  "  what  is  to  be  done?  " 

Sir  Geoffrey's  face  was  a  study  of  irresolution. 
"  Let's  leave  it  till  to-morrow,  Ned,"  he  said  at  last; 
"  the  night  will  bring  wisdom.  But  I  expect  Hirsch  is 
right.  He  has  a  wonderfully  clear  head;  and  I  only 
wish  that  Helen " 

"  I  would  leave  Helen  out  of  the  business  if  I  were 
you,  sir, ' '  interrupted  Ned  angrily. 

It  was  intolerable  to  think  of  her  as  possible  part  pay- 
ment. As  he  lit  his  candle  and  made  his  way  to  the  old 
wing,  ' '  among  the  ruins, ' '  as  she  called  it,  he  told  him- 
self that  he  had  half  a  mind  to  buy  out  all  other  interests 
and  spend  an  extra  thousand  or  two  in  throwing  the 
whole  gim-crack  building  over  the  cliffs.  And  it  was  all 
so  useless !  Helen  didn  't  want  the  money ;  she  was  crav- 
ing to  live  on  an  hospital  nurse 's  pay. 

"  Ned,"  said  a  voice  at  the  door,  just  as  he  had  taSen 
off  his  coat,  "  let  me  in,  please,  I  must  see  you." 

It  was  Helen  herself.  Her  eyes  were  blazing  bright, 
her  face  was  pale.  She  had  flung  a  white  shawl  over  her 
bare  shoulders,  yet  she  shivered. 

"  Ned,"  she  said  swiftly,  "  thank  God  you're  here! 
You  must  come  with  me — you  will,  won 't  you  ?  Put  on 
your  thick  shoes  and  come  as  you  are.  It  is  quite  warm 
— there  is  only  a  fog." 

"  Come,"  he  echoed,  "  come  where?  ,: 

She  seemed  a  trifle  confused,  and  passed  her  hand  over 
her  forehead. 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  77 

"  Down  to  the  point,  of  course;  they  must  be 
warned " 

"  Warned  of  what?    What  have  you  heard?  " 

"  I  didn't  hear,  I  saw.  Ah !  do  come  quick,  I  ought  to 
be  there,  you  know,  showing  a  light. ' ' 

She  spoke  in  curiously  even  tones,  and  for  an  instant 
Ned  thought  she  was  sleep-walking  or  dreaming.  One 
of  those  deadly  dreams  of  excessive  hurry  in  which,  no 
matter  what  you  do,  thought  leaves  the  labouring  body 
far  behind. 

1 '  You  saw  it !    But  where,  and  what  ?  ' ' 

She  was  silent  for  a  second,  looking  at  him  half-dazed, 
then  she  spoke  quite  naturally.  t '  It  was  in  the  crystal — 
the  one  they  brought  from  Thibet.  He  said  I  could,  and 
so  I  saw " 

Suddenly  her  whole  bearing  changed. 

1 '  Fire !  fire !  fire !  ' '  The  cry,  loud  and  clear,  came  as 
she  turned  and  fled,  he  after  her  down  the  dark  passage, 
led  by  the  glimmer  of  her  white  gown. 

Had  she  gone  mad,  or  had  she  really  seen  something  ? 

There  was  a  little  outside  door,  once  the  postern  gate 
of  the  old  Keep,  which  opened  at  the  angle  of  the  wing 
and  the  main  part  of  the  house.  He  followed  her 
through  that,  losing  her  almost  immediately  in  the  dense 
white  fog  which  clung  to  the  damp  walls.  The  windows 
of  Sir  Geoffrey's  study  were  open,  and  as  he  ran  past 
them,  following  the  path,  he  heard  something  which  sent 
the  blood  in  a  wild  leap  through  his  veins.  It  was  a 
furious  insistent  ringing  of  the  telephone  call  bell,  which 
Sir  Geoffrey,  in  his  first  delight  with  his  new  toy  on  the 
point,  had  put  in  so  that  he  might  be  constantly  in  touch 
with  the  workmen. 

Then  something  was  wrong.  What?  As  he  spurted 
ahead  towards  Helen's  ghost-like  figure  seen  in  the  clearer 
atmosphere  beyond,  he  asked  himself  how  she  could  have 
known. 

"  Where  are  you  going?  "  he  called  breathlessly, 
"  that  isn't  the  way  to  the  hotel." 

She  turned  for  a  moment,  then  ran  on,  her  voice  com- 


78  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

ing  back  to  him,  "It  is  the  light — the  light  on  Betty 
Cam's  chair — the  light  for  the  ship." 

' '  Helen !  Helen !  go  back,  what  good  can  you  do  ?  Let 
me  go  and  see,"  he  called,  striving  desperately  to  over- 
take her;  but  she  was  as  swift  as  a  hare,  and  so  dimly 
seen,  too,  dodging  about  among  those  huge  boulders.  And 
everywhere  the  sea-fog  hung  thick.  "  Helen!  Helen! " 
His  cry  came  back  to  him,  but  no  other  sound  did  he 
hear  save  the  rising  roar  of  the  waves  as  he  neared  the 
cliff. 

Right  ahead  of  him  rose  Betty  Cam's  chair.  Well!  if 
she  was  going  there  he  would  catch  her  up  then ;  and  he 
would  see — yes !  he  would  see  from  there  if  anything  was 
wrong. 

For  a  moment  he  saw  her  above  him, — on  the  sky-line 
was  it?  And,  if  so,  why  was  the  sky  so  clear?  Was 
there  a  glow  ?    Great  God !  there  was !  a  glow  in  the  sky 

2}T"irl     £\\    TlPT*    TPPT 

"  Helen!  Heien!  "  he  cried  as  he  sped  on.  "  Tell 
me,  what  is  it?  " 

There  was  no  answer,  but  the  next  instant  he  had 
gained  the  crest,  and  could  see.  It  was  fire,  but  fire  seen 
through  fog.  The  strangest  sight — a  huge  vignette,  a 
magic-lantern  slide,  sharp  in  the  centre,  fading  to  an 
aureole.  Close  as  they  were,  he  could  see  nothing  save 
dim  shadows  in  the  blaze  of  light. 

"  The  ship!  the  ship!  It  is  coming  so  fast — oh!  so 
fast,"  said  a  monotonous  voice  beside  him.  Helen — Good 
God !  how  ill  she  looked,  all  unlike  herself — was  seated  on 
Betty  Cam's  chair,  pointing  with  her  right  hand  far 
out  to  sea. 

"  Nell!  "  he  said  swiftly,  "  Come!  I  can't  leave  you 
here,  and  I  must  get  down  at  once,  the  road's  just  below 
us,  they  will  need  all  the  help " 

As  he  spoke  he  knew  some  was  coming,  for  a  live  spark 
showed  swift  curving  through  the  white  fog  where  the 
road  should  be,  racing  like  a  great  fuse  to  the  heart  of  a 
mine.  It  must  be  a  motor — Hirsch's  most  likely — Thank 
Heaven  he  was  at  least  a  man  of  action !    Yes,  that  was 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  79 

his  voice  coming  back  as  the  light  flashed,  raced,  dis- 
appeared. 

"  For  God's  sake,  be  calm,  sir,  we've  done  all  we  could, 
we  '11  do  all  we  can !  ' ' 

Not  true!  not  true!  except  the  last.  "  Helen!  "  he 
cried  roughly,  ' '  your  father — come !  ' ' 

Did  she  smile  ?  He  did  not  wait  to  make  certain,  but 
leaving  her,  dashed  down  the  hill.  Halfway  he  turned 
doubtfully,  hoping  she  had  followed  him;  but,  already 
almost  lost  in  the  mist,  he  saw  the  lonely  figure  with 
the  faint  glow  about  it  still  seated  on  Betty  Cam's 
chair. 

As  he  dashed  on  again  a  curious  shuddering  boom 
rolled  through  the  fog.  He  wondered  vaguely  what  it 
was,  but  his  whole  mind  was  set  on  that  nebulous  circle 
of  flaming  light.  He  was  nearer  now,  the  vignetting 
grew  sharper,  towers  and  balconies  began  to  loom  luridly, 
beset  by  tongues  of  flame.  It  must  be  all  on  fire — a  wide 
sweep  from  end  to  end. 

Again  that  shuddering  boom— what  was  it?  My  God ! 
Could  Helen  be  right  again,  and  was  it  a  ship  in  dis- 
tress ?  As  he  ran,  he  counted  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  forty, 
fifty,  fifty-five,  sixty.  A  ship  !  a  ship,  indeed !  Was  there 
to  be  no  ending  or  horrors  t  He  was  on  the  upward  rise 
now.  The  aureole  had  gone.  He  could  see  the  flames 
leaping  while  the  crowd  stood  still. 

A  large  crowd,  thank  God!  so  they  must  be  all  out 
surely ! 

He  met  a  man  running  back,  calling  as  he  ran,  "  A 
ship  in  distress  on  the  rocks — the  life-boat — more  help 
needed  there,  come!  " 

"  Are  they  all  out?  "  he  shouted,  and  the  man  nodded 
as  he  ran. 

A  relief,  indeed! 

He  slackened  speed,  as  more  fisher-folk  ran  past  him 
back  to  their  work,  their  trade. 

All  out !  my  God !  what  a  relief !  No !  by  Heaven !  There 
was  a  sudden  stir  in  the  crowd,  and  high  upon  the 
furthermost  seaword  balcony,  as  yet  untouched  by  the 


30  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

flames,  a  little  white  figure  showed  bending  over  the  bal- 
ustrade, and  calling  to  some  one  below. 

The  answer  reached  him,  making  him  leap  forward — 

"  All  right,  little  lady!    I'm  coming!" 

There  was  a  struggle  ahead  of  him,  a  tall  figure  break- 
ing loose  from  hands  that  would  have  held  it  back ;  and 
then  his  uncle 

"  For  God's  sake,"  he  shouted  as  he  ran — "  think  of 
Helen!  " 

The  voice  arrested  Sir  Geoffrey  for  a  second,  and  Ned 
never  forgot  the  look  of  that  scared,  kindly,  distraught 
face  he  saw  for  a  moment. 

1 '  I  am  thinking  of  her, ' '  came  the  answer.  Then  the 
pause  ended. 

Ned  was  after  him  without  a  moment 's  consideration ; 
life  seemed  so  small  a  thing  to  him  that  he  could  not  stop 
to  think  of  it ;  but  Ted  Cruttenden  sprang  forward,  also, 
to  hold  him  back.  The  Fates  did  that,  however,  for  as 
he  would  have  plunged  into  the  burning  house,  the  up- 
per hinge  of  one  of  the  wide  hall  doors  gave  way,  and  as 
it  swung  inwards  with  a  crash,  just  touched  Ned's  fore- 
arm, and  snapped  it  like  a  bulrush. 

As  he  staggered,  Ted  had  hold  of  him.  "  You  can't, 
he  said.  "  He  knows  every  turn,  and  may  do  it  yet  if 
the  stairs  stand.  It's  madness  for  you.  And  my  God! 
there 's  Mrs.  Tresillian.  Why  did  they  let  her  come  ?  we 
didn't  tell  her  on  purpose " 

Ned,  dazed  with  a  pain  he  had  hardly  located,  had 
only  time  to  wonder  stupidly  how  she  had  managed  to 
change  her  dress — she  wore  a  coat  and  skirt — before 
she  was  beside  him  clinging  to  his  unhurt  arm. 

"  Father!  "  she  said.     "  Ned,  where  is  father?  " 

He  shook  his  head.  ' '  Doing  his  duty,  I  suppose, ' '  he 
muttered ;  "  I  tried  to  follow,  but  got  hurt.  Try  to  keep 
calm  if  you  can,  Nell,  there's  a  chance  still." 

Yes!  a  chance,  if  the  fire-proof  stairs  were  fire-proof. 
She  stood  quiet,  silent;  only  once  he  heard  her  say  to 
herself,  "  Why  did  I  wait — oh!  why  didn't  I  come  at 
once?  " 


1 1 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  81 

So  the  minutes  passed,  and  the  crowds  of  Camhaven 
fisherfolk  giving  up  hope  of  more  excitement  here  to- 
night, sought  it  elsewhere,  though  already  a  murmur 
had  come  out  of  the  fog  that  there  was  no  immediate 
danger ;  a  big  ship  was  on  the  sunken  rocks,  and  had  es- 
tablished communication  with  the  shore.    That  was  all. 

And  still  the  minutes  passed,  and  Ned  stood  holding 
Helen 's  hand  in  his. 

Yet  there  was  no  sign  of  returning  feet  upon  the  fire- 
proof stair. 

A  little  breeze  springing  up  had  drifted  the  smoke 
south-west,  obscuring  the  balcony  so  they  could  see 
nothing. 

Those  who  knew  her  began  to  look  at  her  with  pitying 
eyes.  Then  in  an  instant  something  in  which  all  else 
was  forgotten — a  sharp  sound  like  the  crack  of  a  rifle, 
a  quick  upburst  of  sparks,  then  a  great  crash,  and  for  a 
few  moments  silence  and  darkness. 

The  roof  had  fallen  in. 

"Ill  take  her  home,  Lord  Blackborough, ' '  said  Peter 
Ramsay,  for  all  her  height  lifting  her  easily.  ' '  You  will 
be  wanted  here.    Mr.  Hirsch,  I  may  use  your  motor?  ,: 

"  Broken,"  replied  Mr.  Hirsch,  who  was  as  white  as 
a  sheet,  the  tears  almost  running  down  his  cheeks.  "  I 
drove  it  myself,  and  I  didn't  understand,  but  the  Wrex- 
ham's is  here.  My  God!  what  a  frightful  thing — 
shrecklichl  schrecMickl  "  His  voice  shook;  these  things 
were  not  in  the  bond. 

Yet  one  bond  had  been  kept,  for  in  an  hour's  time, 
when  the  flames  had  eaten  their  full  of  the  frail  thing 
which  had  dared  to  usurp  Cam's  point,  they  found  Sir 
Geoffrey  half-way  down  the  stair  caught  in  a  trap  be- 
tween two  gaps  in  what  had  been  scheduled  as  a  fire-proof 
staircase. 

He  held  the  child  in  his  arms,  her  head,  wrapped  in  his 
coat  to  preserve  her  from  the  smoke,  nestled  close  upon 
his  breast. 

"  For  ever  never  an-naye!  "  That  promise  anyhow 
had  been  kept  as  a  Pentreath  should  have  kept  it! 


CHAPTER   VII 

Early  dawn  in  a  house  where  the  new-dead  lie  unheed- 
ing whether  it  be  darkness  or  day.  Dawn  when  those 
who  have  seen  the  light  of  life  fade  from  a  beloved  face 
watch  the  slow  sunlight  steal  once  more  over  the  edge 
of  the  world,  and  claim  all  things  for  its  own. 

Yet  watching  alone,  how  peaceful  such  a  dawn  may  be, 
when  one  can  face  death,  not  as  a  thing  apart,  but  as  a 
part  of  life;  when  there  is  no  need  to  cloud  its  kindly 
form  with  sentimentalities,  when  we  need  not  drug  our- 
selves into  disregarding  its  dignity  by  some  narcotic  of 
belief  in  life  to  come,  when  it  is  enough  to  feel  that  this 
life  has  passed  where  all  life  goes. 

In  the  old  Keep,  however,  where  the  master  lay  dead 
in  his  study  among  his  fishing-rods  and  guns,  as  they 
had  left  him  till  the  inquest  should  be  over,  there  was 
no  one  near  enough  to  the  dead  man  so  to  watch,  for 
Helen  was  still  unconscious  in  her  room  upstairs.  Dr. 
Ramsay,  whose  hands  were  full  with  many  claimants  on 
his  care,  spoke  of  a  severe  nervous  crisis,  which  had  evi- 
dently been  coming  on  for  some  time.  Her  best  chance 
was  this  semi-cataleptic  state  from  which  she  would  re- 
cover in  her  own  good  time.  So  she  lay  in  her  simple 
white  room,  on  her  simple  little  bed,  and  the  dawn  stole 
in  slowly  through  the  open  window  bringing  the  day- 
spring  song  of  birds  with  it.  But  she  was  not  there. 
She  might  have  been  with  her  father  for  all  the  by- 
standers could  tell. 

Ned,  his  face  drawn  with  pain  from  the  fractured  arm 
over  which  Dr.  Ramsay  had  instantly  looked  severe,  but 
for  which  Ned  refused  to  lay  himself  up  absolutely  until 
certain  necessary  details  had  been  arranged,  looked  in 

82 


A    SOT E REIGN   REMEDY  83 

and  envied  her.  He  had  told  the  doctor  of  her  visit  to 
his  room,  and  his  wild  stern-chase  of  her  to  Betty  Cam's 
chair,  and  of  his  wonder — a  wonder  that  grew  as  he 
thought  over  it — as  to  how  she  could  possibly  have  got 
home,  changed  her  dress  and  come  on  in  the  Wrexham's 
motor  in  so  short  a  space  of  time.    Still  she  had  done  it. 

Evidently  she  had  done  it,  the  doctor  had  replied 
guardedly,  and  there,  in  the  stress  of  many  calls,  the 
subject  had  dropped. 

And  yet  as  Ned  went  about  giving  orders  in  hopes 
of  lessening  anxieties  and  distress,  he  was  remembering 
the  strange  unkenned  look  he  had  noticed  on  his  cousin's 
face.  Was  it  possible  that — No !  it  was  impossible.  Any- 
how he  had  no  time  to  think  it  over  as  yet. 

The  roll-call  of  inmates  had,  thank  Heaven!  been  on 
the  whole  satisfactory.  Only  two  had  failed  to  answer. 
Mrs.  Massingham  and,  curiously  enough,  his  friend  Char- 
teris,  who  had  arranged  to  leave  the  next  morning  when 
his  attack  of  Indian  fever  should  have  passed  away.  The 
only  man  who  knew  of  the  danger !  It  was  a  coincidence 
certainly.  As  for  Mrs.  Massingham,  the  fright  must 
have  brought  on  one  of  her  heart  attacks ;  else  there  was 
no  reason  why  she  should  not  have  escaped,  taking  Maidie 
with  her ;  it  had  not  been  a  good  life  anyhow.  But  what 
an  awful  home-coming  for  the  husband !  He  might  arrive 
that  very  day,  but  it  would  be  better  if  he  did  not.  Not 
for  a  few  days,  till  the  whole  thing,  body  and  soul  alike, 
should  have  gone  out  of  ken  for  ever. 

Then  there  was  the  ship.  It  was  a  transport  from  In- 
dia, a  bit  out  of  its  course  through  having  damaged  an 
engine.  It  had  mistaken  the  fire  for  the  lighthouse 
further  west,  and  had  struck  lightly  on  a  sunken  rock 
just  off  the  headland  beyond  Cam's  Bay.  It  seemed  none 
the  worse,  and  would  most  likely  float  off  in  the  next  tide 
or  two  as  the  wind  strengthened.  In  the  meantime  that 
would  entail  another  funeral,  as  they  had  had  a  death  on 
board  that  night. 

So  much  Mr.  Hirsch  told  Ned,  when  the  latter  went  to 
see  him  about  wiring  to  the  office  of  the  new  company. 


84  4    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

1 '  I  Ve  looked  to  that, ' '  he  replied  curtly,  ' '  and  I  must 
get  all  these  "  (a  perfect  pile  of  forms  lay  beside  him) 
"  off  at  once;  only  the  nuisance  is  my  motor  is 
damaged." 

'  Ted  Cruttenden  is  cycling  with  mine,"  began  Ned. 

Mr.  Hirsch  looked  up  quickly — ' '  You  will  be  careful, 
won't  you?  " 

"  I  won't  foul  my  own  nest  more  than  I  can  help," 
said  Ned  bitterly. 

' '  That 's  right !    And  you  know ' '    Mr.  Hirsch  was 

still  writing  hurriedly — ' '  I  don 't  believe  it  was  the  wires 
at  all.  It  certainly  began  in  the  back  premises,  and  they 
tell  me  the  cook  was  dead  drunk  after  dinner,  and  half 
the  servants  as  well — they  were  dancing  break- downs  to 
the  gramaphone." 

"  That  doesn't  take  away  the  taste,"  burst  out  Ned 
passionately,  "  or  take  away  the  responsibility  for  hav- 
ing put  such  a  ghastly  monstrosity  on  that  point,  before 
that  sea,  under  the  stars  of  heaven " 

Mr.  Hirsch  looked  up  with  the  surprised  kindly  look 
an  elder  gives  to  a  child  who  has  suddenly  burst  out 
crying  over  a  broken  toy. 

"  You  really  ought  to  go  to  bed,  Lord  Blackborough, " 
he  said.  "  All  this  is  so  exhausting  to  the  nerves.  I 
shall  do  so,  when  I  have  sent  off  my  telegrams." 

Was  it  the  roll  of  the  double  r  which  made  Ned  in- 
clined to  kick  Mr.  Hirsch?  It  was  a  relief  when  Ted 
Cruttenden  ended  the  conversation  by  entering  in  the  si- 
lent, unobtrusive  way,  which  people  adopt  in  the  house 
of  mourning. 

' '  Messages  ready  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Mine  are!  Mr.  Hirsch  has  some.  I  suppose  you 
wanted  to  be  off,  It's  a  shocking  bad  road  to  Haverton," 
remarked  Ned,  full  of  ill-humour  as  he  left  the  room. 

' '  I  shall  not  go  to  Haverton  though, ' '  said  Ted.  ' '  I 
shall  save  time  by  cycling  to  Wellhampton.  Five  miles 
further,  but  there's  an  all-night  office,  and  it  seems  a 
pity  to  waste  time  till  eight  o  'clock. ' ' 

"  Good,"  nodded  Mr.  Hirsch,  "  though "  here  he 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  85 

gave  one  of  his  short  explosive  laughs — "  I  am  in  no 
particular  hurry.  I  must  give  Jenkin  time — good  Lord, 
what  a  relief  to  get  rid  of  Jenkin — ahem!  "  He  pulled 
himself  up  hurriedly  and  went  on  writing. 

It  was  the  first  time  Ted  had  come  to  close  quarters 
with  a  millionaire,  a  millionaire  too  of  European  repu- 
tation as  a  financier  more  than  as  mere  money  seeker,  and 
the  effect  was  stimulating.  It  roused  his  admiration,  his 
imagination.  He  stood  at  the  window,  waiting  and 
watching  Mr.  Hirsch's  head — it  was  growing,  in  truth, 
a  trifle  bald  at  the  crown — as  it  bent  over  his  papers 
and  thinking  what  it  must  feel  like  to  possess  the  art  of 
transmuting  baser  things  to  gold. 

"  I  will  give  you  a  sovereign/'  began  the  great  man 
condescendingly.  l '  One  is  in  cipher,  and  that  costs.  The 
change  in  stamps,  if  you  please.  I  have  many  letters  to 
write. ' ' 

Typical  of  the  man,  thought  Ted  Cruttenden,  while 
Mr.  Hirsch,  noticing  how  careful  the  young  man  was  in 
discriminating  between  his  and  Lord  Blackborough 's 
telegrams,  but  putting  them  into  different  pockets, 
smiled.  "  You  are  metodical,  I  see,"  he  remarked,  with 
just  that  faint  slur  over  the  th  which  occasionally  told 
he  was  not  English.    "  It  is  a  great  gift  in  business/' 

Ted  smiled  also,  and  flushed  with  pleasure,  since  Mr. 
Hirsch's  praise  was  worth  having;  and  so,  then  and 
there,  almost  as  if  some  chemical  affinity  had  manifested 
itself  between  the  molecules  composing  his  brain  and  Mr. 
Hirsch's,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  try  and  follow  his  ex- 
ample. He  was  no  fool;  other  people  succeeded,  why 
not  he? 

As  he  rode  off  his  mind  was  full  of  this  new  determi- 
nation. And  yet,  one  short  week  ago  he  had  thought 
himself  uncommonly  lucky  to  have  pushed  himself  so 
far  up  the  ladder  as  to  be  in  receipt  of  a  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  a  year.  For  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  he 
was  no-man's  son.  His  mother  had  refused  to  give  his 
father's  name.  When  she  lay  dying,  and  her  people, 
seeking  to  trick  her,  asked  what  name  the  child  should 


gg  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

be  called,  she  had  smiled  derisively  at  them.  "  Edward 
Cruttenden,  of  course,"  had  been  her  reply,  the  latter 
being  her  own  name,  a  common  enough  one  in  the  Black 
Country. 

Ted  had  thought  all  this  out  many  times ;  yet  it  came 
back  to  him — with  no  rancour  against  his  mother,  but  a 
good  deal  against  his  unknown  father.  On  this  fine  June 
morning  as  he  made  his  way  across  the  high  Cornish 
tableland,  dipping  down — with  both  brakes  on — into 
some  steep  combe  and  thereinafter  climbing  out  of  it 
again,  pushing  his  bicycle. 

If  he  had  only  begun  earlier  to  think  about  making 
money,  he  would  have  had  a  better  chance  with  Aura. 
No  doubt  at  his  age  Hirsch  had  been  operating  on  the 
Exchange  and  promoting  companies. 

Promoting !    Operating !    These  were  words  indeed ! 

But  it  must  be  uphill  work — so  was  this  last  combe; 
for  it  was  to  be  one  of  those  hot  June  days,  when  the 
freshness  of  dawn  is  gone  in  half  an  hour,  and  the  very 
grass  has  no  trace  of  dew  on  it. 

He  sat  down  at  the  top  of  the  hill  and  drew  out  his 
handkerchief  in  order  to  mop  his  face. 

In  doing  so  one  of  Mr.  Hirsch 's  telegrams  came  out  also 
and  fluttered  to  the  ground. 

It  was  the  one  in  cipher,  and,  as  he  glanced  at  it,  he 
found  that  by  a  pure  chance  he  knew  it,  or  something 
very  like  it.  His  little  friend  and  admirer  in  the  stock- 
broker's office  was  an  expert  in  ciphers,  and  had  shown 
him  several.  This — one  of  the  easiest — amongst  the 
number. 

He  could  not  choose  but  read  the  first  word, 

"  Buy." 

Buy !  That  was  curious.  He  should  have  expected  it 
to  be  "sell." 

Buy  what  ? 

Buy  Sea-views  all  below  five  shillings.    Hirsch. 

He  sat  looking  at  the  words  for  some  time,  puzzled, 
then  rode  on,  his  mind  busy  with  the  problem;  but  the 
puzzle  remained  until,  as  he  was  going  into  the  telegraph 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  87 

office  at  Wellhampton,  he  met  Mr.  Jenkin  coming  out. 
Then  the  memory  of  Mr.  Hirsch's  laugh  of  relief  at  "  get- 
ting rid  of  Jenkin, ' '  which  he  had  hardly  noticed  at  the 
time,  came  back  to  him.  Jenkin  apparently  was  to  be 
given  time  to  sell,  while  Mr.  Hirsch  was  to  buy.  It  was  a 
straight  lead-over.  What  if  he  were  to  follow  it  even  to 
the  extent  of  but  a  hundred  pounds  ?  His  heart  gave  a 
great  throb;  he  felt  as  a  man  might,  when  put  on  a 
horse  for  the  first  time  and  the  reins  given  into  his  hand. 
"Who  was  to  prevent  him  going  where  he  chose — except, 
of  course,  the  horse ! 

He  returned  to  the  Keep  by  breakfast  time,  but  for  a 
wonder  he  had  no  appetite,  since  he  was  of  that  healthy 
strong-nerved  sort  to  whom  even  personal  sorrow  comes 
as  an  expenditure  of  force  which  requires  recuperation. 
And  there  was  no  personal  feeling  in  this  tragedy  except 
for  Blackborough's  share  in  it;  for  that  he  was  unfeign- 
edly  sorry.  He,  however,  had  been  finally  ordered  to  his 
room  by  Dr.  Ramsay  who  was  too  busy  to  speak  to  any 
one.  The  Wrexhams  left  early,  followed  at  intervals  by 
the  other  guests,  and  the  Keep  settled  down  into  the 
slack  collapse  which  always  follows  on  the  excitement  of 
a  catastrophe.  The  servants  seemed  to  remember  they 
had  been  up  all  night ;  Mr.  Hirsch  was  the  only  person 
who  was  really  awake,  but  Ted  did  not  somehow  care  to 
see  Mr.  Hirsch ;  though  as  the  day  wore  on  and  the  latter 
went  off  once  more  to  Cam's  point,  Ted  took  down  some 
telegrams  which  had  come  for  him,  and  watched  him 
read  them  anxiously.  They  seemed  satisfactory,  but  by 
this  time  Ted  was  telling  himself  he  had  behaved  like  a 
fool  in  sending  that  wire  to  his  friend  on  the  Stock  Ex- 
change. 

The  desolation  on  the  point,  where  workmen  were  still 
searching  for  any  traces  of  Mr.  Charteris'  body,  made 
him  still  more  depressed,  so  he  strolled  over  to  Cams- 
haven,  thereby  letting  himself  in  for  additional  dreari- 
ness ;  since,  just  as  he  abutted  on  the  little  quay,  he  saw 
one  of  the  transport's  boats,  disembarking  a  coffin.  The 
dead  officer,  of  course.    Poor  chap,  to  die  like  that  within 


gg  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

sight  of  home  was  rough  luck.  He  stood  with  bared  head 
watching  the  guard  of  honour  form  up  and  prepare  to 
take  the  body  to  the  church,  where  it  was  to  lie  until  di- 
rections came  by  wire  from  the  relatives. 

"  You  don't  happen  to  know  the  name?  "  he  asked 
of  the  local  pilot  who  was  close  beside  him. 

"  Not  for  sure,  sir,"  he  replied,  "  tho'  I  did  hear  mi 
say  Massin'ham;  same  name  as  the  poor  madam  they 
people  burnt  in  her  bed  las'  night." 

"  Massingham!  "  echoed  Ted — "  that  is  very  curious." 

It  was.  Indeed,  Mr.  Hirsch,  coming  back  to  the  Keep 
half  an  hour  afterwards,  was  quite  pale,  and  called  for 
a  whisky-and-soda  before  he  could  explain  to  Dr.  Ramsay 
the  extraordinary  coincidence  of  Major  Massingham 's 
body  being  brought  in  for  burial  to  Camshaven,  where 
those  of  his  poor  wife  and  child  already  awaited  him 
as  it  were.  But  he,  Mr.  Hirsch,  had  seen  the  captain  of 
the  transport,  and  everything  was  quite  simple — terribly 
simple.  Major  Massingham  had  come  on  board  at  Bom- 
bay ill,  but  had  not,  however,  let  his  people  know  of  his 
illness,  as  he  expected  the  voyage  to  set  him  up.  He  had 
unfortunately  taken  a  chill  off  Gibraltar:  pneumonia 
had  set  in,  and  in  his  delirium  he  had  constantly  talked 
of  his  wife  and  child,  and  begged  not  to  be  buried  at 
sea.  The  latter  idea  had  been  quite  an  obsession  with 
him ;  almost  the  last  words  he  spoke  being  ' '  Not  at  sea — 
not  at  sea !  "  That  had  been  two  hours  before  the  ship 
struck,  and  when  they  discovered  there  was  no  danger, 
it  had  seemed  another  curious  coincidence  to  ensure 
poor  Massingham 's  wish.  But  the  whole  affair 
was  .  .  . 

Here  Mr.  Hirsch  became  quite  unintelligible  in  his  ad- 
mixture of  English  and  German. 

"It  is  certainly — curious,"  assented  Dr.  Ramsay 
thoughtfully ;  ' '  very  curious.  But  it  is  just  as  well  he 
should  come  home  dead — the  news  would  have  broken 
him.  By  the  way,  I  don't  want  Lord  Blackborough  dis- 
turbed. There  is  a  nasty  splinter  that  will  give  trouble ; 
and  he  was  in  such  pain,  I  ordered  a  sleeping-draught. 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  89 

Indeed "     Here  he  smiled.     "  I  am  thinking  of  a 

sleep  myself  till  dinner  time." 

"  I  also,"  yawned  Mr.  Hirsch.  "  Mein  Gott!  Trag- 
edy is  fatiguing  off  the  stage  as  well  as  on  it,  and  this 
poor  Major  Massingham  .  .  .  Ilimmel!  es  ist  un-be-greif- 
lich-auf-erlegbar!  "  And  he  went  off  to  his  room,  look- 
ing a  perfect  wreck,  aged  by  ten  years ;  for  deep  down 
below  the  hard  shell  which  grubbing  for  gold  requires, 
his  heart  was  soft.  And  these  things  were  uncomfort- 
able— they  were  not  in  the  bond — they  belonged  to  a 
spiritual  life  in  which  he  had  no  part. 

They  weighed  heavily  on  Ted  Cruttenden  also,  for  he 
had  the  Englishman's  innate  antagonism  to  anything 
which  hints  at  the  unknown,  anything  which  might  sug- 
gest a  wider  outlook  than  the  one  he  already  possesses. 
But  the  hundred  pounds  he  had  adventured,  following 
Mr.  Hirsch 's  lead,  weighed  on  him  still  more  heavily. 
Why  had  he  been  so  impulsive?  At  the  most  he  could 
gain  three  hundred ;  and  what  would  Mr.  Hirsch  say  if 
it  were  to  come  out  ?  Not  that  it  mattered,  since  he  was 
not  likely  to  see  much  more  of  Mr.  Hirsch,  for  he  must 
go  back  to  Blackborough  next  morning.  So,  after  a  time, 
he  also  sought  his  room  and  a  rest. 

Dr.  Ramsay,  however,  was  deprived  of  his;  for,  look- 
ing in  while  passing  to  see  how  Lord  Blackborough  fared, 
he  found  him  not  only  wide  awake,  but  greatly  excited 
by  the  news  which  a  servant  had  brought  him. 

1 1  Curse  the  fool !  ' '  said  Peter  Ramsay  vexedly.  ' '  I 
made  sure  you  would  be  asleep.  Yes!  it  is  extremely 
curious,  but " 

"  What  does  it  mean,  doctor — that's  what  I  want  to 
know,"  burst  in  Ned.  "  What  is  it,  this  strange  some- 
thing which  every  now  and  again  seems  to  show  us  a 
solemn,  shrouded  face,  and  then  disappears  in  mocking, 
devilish  laughter — in  charlatans'  tricks?  " 

Dr.  Ramsay  shook  his  head.  "  If  I  could  tell  you 
that,  Lord  Blackborough,  I — well!  For  one  thing,  I 
should  be  the  richest  man  in  the  world.  All  we  doctors 
can  say  is  that  there  is  something — something  which  can 


90  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

be  explained  away  if  one  chooses  to  explain  it  away. 
But  the  explanation  isn't  scientific.  It  is  easy  to  say  a 
man  is  mad  because  he  believes  himself  to  be  the  Emperor 
of  China,  but  what  about  the  question,  '  Why  does  a 
man  think  he  is  the  Emperor  of  China  when  he  is  madj  ' 
We  have  got  to  answer  that,  and  show  what  it  is  which  in- 
duces delusions  and  hysteria,  and  why  hypnotic  sleep 
causes  certain  specific  alterations  in  the  body  corporate, 
as  it  does.  But  we've  only  just  woke  up  to  the  fact  that 
we  stand  on  the  verge  of  some  great  discovery;  we've 
only  just  begun  to  question  the  nerve  centres,  and  see 
the  incalculable  power  of  suggestion.  Now  take  this  case 
of  your  cousin's,"  he  continued  eagerly.  "  Whatever  it 
may  or  may  not  be,  it  is  certain  that  I  suggested  to  her 
first  that  she  was  mentally  unstable;  second,  that  she 
might  be  able  to  project  herself  .  .  .  then  Lady  Wrexham 
slips  in  with  her  crystal-gazing  suggestion — and — and 
the  thing  is  done." 

"  There  is  something  else,"  said  Ned  slowly,  almost 
reluctantly,  "  which  might — we  were  talking  of  old 
Betty  Cam  in  the  morning — she  and  I — and  I  told  her  it 
wasn't  safe  for  her  to  be  always  watching  the  sea — I 

warned  her — in  joke  of  course — of  her  hereditary " 

Here  he  broke  off  impatiently.  ' '  But  it  is  of  no  use  talk- 
ing— the  thing  is  frankly — impossible. ' ' 

"  Hardly  that,"  remarked  Dr.  Ramsay  dryly.  "  We 
have  to  learn,  apparently,  that  many  things  are  pos- 
sible— at  times. ' ' 

Ned  looked  at  him  curiously.  "  One  wouldn't  credit 
you  with  such  beliefs,  Ramsay,"  he  said. 

"  I  don't  credit  them  myself,"  replied  the  doctor 
shortly.  "  Personally  I  wish  these  phenomena  didn't  ex- 
ist. They  complicate  the  equation  of  life  tremendously. 
But  they  are  there.  It  is  no  use  dismissing  them  as  hys- 
terical manifestations.  That  only  alters  the  title  of  the 
problem,  and  we  have  to  refer  to  the  phenomena  again 
under  the  heading  '  What  is  hysteria?  '  " 

"  Of  one  thing  I  am  certain,"  remarked  Ned  suddenly, 
with  conviction:  "  it  was  not  Helen  altogether,  as  she  is 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  91 

now,  whom  I  left  in  Betty  Cam's  chair  last  night.  I 
have  been  going  over  the  whole  incident  in  my  mind,  and 
I  am  conscious  of  having  had  a  sense  all  through  that 
there  was  something  unkenned,  something  not  quite 
real " 

"  The  question  is,"  put  in  Dr.  Ramsay,  "  how  much 
she  will  remember  when  she  wakes,  and  that  cannot  be 
very  long  now,  for  she  was  much  more  normal  when  I 
went  in  to  see  her  last,  two  hours  ago.  I  shall  look  in 
again  as  I  go  upstairs." 

"  I  hope  she  will  remember  nothing,"  said  Ned 
quickly. 

Peter  Ramsay  shook  his  head.  "  It  may  be  every- 
thing; you  cannot  possibly  tell "  he  broke  off  as  a 

knock  was  heard  at  the  door,  and  a  voice  said,  "  May  I 
come  in  ?  ' '    "My  God !  "  he  continued,  ' '  there  she  is !  ' ' 

It  was  indeed  Helen  who,  entering  as  he  held  open  the 
door,  passed  swiftly  to  her  cousin 's  side. 

"  Poor  Ned!  "  she  said,  her  face,  on  which  showed 
the  marks  of  recent  tears,  full  of  a  grateful,  affectionate 
solicitude.  ' '  How  foolish  it  has  been  of  me  to  leave  you 
to  bear  the  brunt  of  it  all ;  but  I  am  all  right  now,  and 
shall  manage.  He  ought  to  be  in  bed,  oughtn't  he?  " 
she  continued,  her  eyes  narrowing  a  little  as  they  met 
Peter  Ramsay's,  her  whole  expression  showing  for  an 
instant  a  half-puzzled  pain,  as  if  she  sought  for  some 
memory  of  past  trouble.  UI  am  sure  you  think  so — 
don't  you?  " 

"  I  think  so  very  much  indeed,  Mrs.  Tressilian,"  he 
replied.    "  Your  cousin's  arm " 

' '  Poor  arm !  ' '  she  interrupted  softly,  ' '  that  was 
broken  before  I  came  down — I  was  asleep,  I  suppose, 
when  they  called  me — it  seems  so  strange  that  I  could 
have  slept,  and  I  seem  to  have  forgotten  everything  ex- 
cept the  awful  suspense;  then  the  awful  night  on  the 
point —  but — but  you  couldn  't  have  saved  him,  Ned.  It 
was  the  stairs — if  only  they  had  been  fireproof! — for  he 
knew  every  turn.  I — I  have  been  down  to  see  him,  Ned, 
and  he  looks  so  peaceful — so  content.    You  see  he  had 


92  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

done  all  he  could — all  a  Pentreath  should  have  done — 
so — so  it  is  best.  And  now,  dear,  you  really  must  go  to 
bed.  I  can  manage  nicely.  I  will  send  to  meet  the 
Massinghams — poor  souls! — how  terribly  sad,  and  how 
inexplicable  it  all  is !  ' ' 

Inexplicable  indeed!  They  looked  at  each  other 
silently. 

She  evidently  knew  all  that  they  knew,  but  of  what 
they  did  not  know  she  also  knew  nothing.  The  interval 
between  the  time  when  she  had  passed  upstairs  to  her 
room,  joking  and  laughing  with  the  others,  and  her  first 
sight  of  the  halo  of  fire  had  simply  lapsed  into  a  great 
suspense. 

It  was  as  well,  Dr.  Ramsay  admitted  to  himself,  and 
yet  he  felt  annoyed.  For,  looking  at  Helen  Tressilian's 
face,  he  recognised  that  his  chance — and  the  chance  of 
science  was  over. 

In  all  probability  that  would  be  her  one  solitary  in- 
trusion into  the  unknown  dimension  which  whetted  his 
curiosity  so  much.  She  was  normal  now ;  she  might  con- 
ceivably marry  some  deserving  idiot,  and  settle  down  to 
half  a  dozen  children.    She  might  even  become  a  nurse ! 

All  things  were  possible  to  the  calm  self-possession 
with  which  she  insisted  on  rest  for  them  both.  So,  in 
an  evil  temper,  he  followed  her  advice. 

Meanwhile  Ted  Cruttenden,  after  wandering  about 
aimlessly,  uncertain  whether  to  bless  or  curse  himself 
for  his  morning's  work,  had  also  sought  rest,  and  was 
asleep  dreaming  of  Aura.  Aura,  as  he  had  seen  her  in 
her  blue  linen  smock  and  sandals,  Aura  as  he  could  pic- 
ture her  in  pink  satin  and  diamonds.  Which  was  the 
most  beautiful,  the  most  beautified?  He  scarcely  knew. 
When  he  felt  inclined  to  bless  himself,  it  was  because 
he  could  picture  her  in  the  latter;  when  curses  came  it 
was  because  he  regretted  the  former. 

So  to  him  in  troubled  slumber,  came  a  knock  at  the 
door. 

"  Come  in,"  he  called  drowsily;  then  sat  up  with  beat- 
ing heart  on  the  edge  of  his  bed,  feeling  for  his  slippers 


A.   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  93 

with  his  feet.  He  did  not  know  that  the  dapper  little  fig- 
ure at  the  door  was  to  him  Mephistopheles,  that  he  was 
about  to  sell  his  soul  to  the  devil;  but  he  was  vaguely 
conscious  of  an  approaching  crisis  in  his  life. 

"  Soli!  my  young  friend,  you  have  bought  Sea  View 
shares!    Why?  " 

The  room  was  growing  dark.  There  was  a  wide  inter- 
val of  shadowy  light  from  the  windows  between  the 
young  man  as,  having  found  mental  and  bodily  foothold, 
he  stood  coatless,  defiant,  as  if  prepared  to  fight  Fate, 
and  Mr.  Hirsch  decently  robed  for  dinner,  and  with,  as 
ever,  the  large  white  flower  of  a  blameless  life  in  his  but- 
ton-hole. Through  the  open  window  the  mellow  pipe  of 
a  blackbird,  full  of  the  glad  song  of  wood  and  dale, 
forced  its  way  insistently.  The  memory  of  it  lingered 
with  Ted  always.  In  after  years  that  joyous  invitation 
to  the  wilds  always  seemed  to  sound  in  his  ears  whenever 
a  question  of  choice  arose. 

Now,  though  he  heard  it,  he  was  too  busy  to  heed  it. 

"  Why?  "  he  echoed.  "  I  bought  them,  sir — because 
I — I  believed  in  you  .  .  .  there  you  have  it  in  a  nut- 
shell. " 

' '  And  why  did  you  believe  in  me  ?  ' ' 

Ted,  having  recovered  his  confidence,  gave  a  short 
laugh.  ' '  Upon  my  soul,  I  don 't  know.  I  did  it — that 's 
all." 

"  Then  you  had  no  private  intimation — you  had  not 
overheard  anything — you — it  was  unvertraute  gut — no 
more?  " 

"  You  gave  me  a  lead  over  yourself,  you  know,"  re- 
plied Ted  argumentatively.  "  You  said  Jenkin  must 
have  time — and  the  rest  followed — I  couldn  't  help  know- 
ing the  cipher,  could  I  ?  ' ' 

A  faint  chuckle  came  from  the  gloom  by  the  door. 
"  Soh!  you  have  prains!  Mr.  Cruttenden,  I  ought  to  be 
angry,  I  ought  to  tell  you  many  things,  but  I  have 
searched  long  for  one  to  believe  in  me.  I  need  him.  Let 
this  be — you  have  won  three  hundred  pounds.  I  give 
you  this  per  year  as  my  clerk.    You  accept  ? 


94  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

It  was  all  over  in  a  moment.  The  blackbird  ceased  his 
song,  and  as  Ted  Cruttenden  hurriedly  dressed  for  din- 
ner his  head  was  in  a  whirl.  This  was  a  chance  indeed. 
By  Christmas  he  might  stand  on  more  equal  ground. 
And  after  Christmas  ?  His  fancy  ran  riot  in  pink  satin 
and  diamonds. 

But,  when  he  left  with  Mr.  Hirsch  next  morning,  the 
latter  was  in  a  towering  bad  temper.  Lord  Blackborough 
was  a  fool.  He  had  refused  to  listen  to  reason,  and  Mrs. 
Tressilian  was  no  better.  They  had  both  of  them  de- 
clined to  be  mixed  up  any  further  with  the  hotel,  and 
would  not  even  let  him  buy  them  out.  The  insurance  had 
no  doubt  been  made  in  accordance  with  business  prin- 
ciples, but 

"  He  will  divest  himself  of  every  farthing  in  two 
years  if  he  goes  on  being  so  verdammlich  gerecht.  Yes ! 
I  give  him  two  years  to  be  a  pauper,"  said  poor  Mr. 
Hirsch,  and  then  his  eyes  positively  filled  with  tears  as 
he  considered  how  all  his  efforts  to  secure  a  competency 
for  Helen  had  failed. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

It  was  early  autumn,  and  Aura  was  standing  in  the 
garden,  looking  more  like  a  Botticelli  angel  than  ever, 
for  her  face  was  mutinous,  the  very  curls  about  her 
temples  and  ears  all  crisped  and  gold-edged  as  she  defied 
even  the  sunlight. 

She  was  engaged  in  an  argument  with  Martha,  who, 
in  Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith's  brief  yearly  absences  on  the 
work  of  the  Socialistic  Congress,  still  attempted  an  au- 
thority which  she  had  once  held  undisputed. 

"  Well,  I  wouldn't,  not  if  it  was  ever  so,"  asserted  the 
worthy  woman,  her  face  aflame  with  righteous  indigna- 
tion. "  Mr.  Meredith,  the  rector,  he  know  his  part,  an' 
being  unbaptized  there  won't  be  no  funeral,  so  what's  the 
use  of  flowers?  " 

Aura's  eyebrows  almost  met  in  a  sudden  frown.  "  You 
don't  mean  that  they  will  refuse " 

"  I  don't  know  nothin',  Miss  H'Aura,"  interrupted 
Martha;  "  only  what  I  hear  tell.  I  don't  'old  with  bap- 
tism, nor  yet  with  burials,  specially  the  penny  things 
they  has  hereabout.  I  don't  want  no  halfpence  to  help 
bury  me.  I  ain  't  like  the  folk  nowadays,  as  is  that  rest- 
less they  don't  know  where  they'll  lie,  much  less  where 
they'll  go  to  when  they're  dead.  But  I  do  hear  it  said 
that  there'll  be  a  fuss,  becos  the  Calvinists  wouldn't  bap- 
tize the  babby,  hoping  to  get  hold  o'  the  name  o'  the 
father,  for  it  was  a  sin  and  a  shame,  her  not  bein',  as 
it  were,  all  there,  an'  now  the  rector '11  object  to  a  unbap- 
tized, except  in  the  odd  corner  where  they  puts  the  '  fel- 
low deceased.'  No,  it  ain't  the  sort  of  thing  for  you  to 
be  mixing  yourself  up  with,  Miss  H  'Aura.    Them  lovely 

95 


QQ  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

lilies 'd  be  ashamed  o'  your  taking  them  to  that  gurl 
Gwen." 

Aura  bent  her  head  caressingly  to  the  great  bunch  of 
gold-rayed  Japanese  lilies  she  held. 

"lam  taking  them  to  a  dead  baby,"  she  said  quietly, 
"  the  lilies  won't  be  ashamed  of  it." 

And  with  that  she  turned  on  her  heel  superbly,  leav- 
ing Martha  speechless,  to  watch  the  blue  linen  smock 
cross  the  lawn  and  disappear  behind  the  rhododendrons. 
A  glimmer  of  it  showed  like  a  bit  of  heaven  among  the 
birchwood  beyond  the  bridge  ere  the  older  woman  found 
her  tongue,  and  going  over  to  where  Adam  was  weeding 
beetroot  confided  in  him. 

"  You  mark  my  word,  Adam  Bate,"  she  said  solemnly, 
"  Miss  H'Aura  "  (the  h  was  always  added  on  such  oc- 
casions as  a  point  of  ceremony)  "  '11  marry  the  wrong 
man,  sure  as  eggs  is  eggs. ' ' 

Adam  looked  up  aghast.  "  The  wrong  'un?  Why, 
sakes  me,  she  ain  't  got  never  one  at  all ;  and  sorry  be,  for 
'twud  be  a  right  sight  to  see  'un  billin'  and  cooin' 
'mongst  the  yapple  trees,  as  true  lovers  shud." 

Martha's  repressed  indignation  found  instant  outlet. 
"  Adam  Bate,"  she  remarked  severely,  "  you  'em's  got 
a  low  depraved  mind,  that's  what's  the  matter  with  you. 
Miss  H'Aura  ain't  o'  the  cuddlin'  sort,  no,  nor _  me 
neither,  as  you  know  to  your  cost,  or  shud  do  by  this  time. 
No !  Miss  H  'Aura,  bless  her  dear  heart,  has  such  a  out- 
look as  no  man  can  ever  reach  to  it  truly;  an'  when  one 
is  a-lookin'  down  from  a  'eight,  it's  hard  to  tell  on  what 
rung  o'  the  ladder  a  feller's  standing.  There's  always 
some  thin'  in  the  way  o'  right  seein',  either  'is  body  or 
'is  head,  specially  if  it  has  good  looks. ' ' 

"  Not  if  'e  be  low  'nuff,  Martha,  woman,"  replied 
Adam,  stooping  closer  to  his  beetroot,  some  of  which 
seemed  to  get  into  his  sunburnt  ears.  ' '  When  she  be  so 
high  as  a  star,  and  he  be  a  creepin'  wum  in  the  yerth,  an' 
there  never  cud  be  no  count  of  bein'  ekal " 

"  Then  'e'd  better  leave  coortin'  alone,"  interrupted 
Martha  uncompromisingly,  "  seein'   'e  cud  never  clasp 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  97 

her,  try  'e  ever  so  hard.  But  head  or  heart,  you  mark 
my' word,  when  Miss  H 'Aura's  time  comes,  him  as  cares 
least,  an'  lays  least  finger  to  her,  is  the  one  for  that  prize. 
An'  there  won't  be  no  billin'  and  cooin'  among  your 
yapple  trees,  Mr.  Bate— so  there !  ' ' 

Adam  stood  looking  after  her  admiringly.  "  'Twarn't 
so  bad  if  it  hadn't  bin  for  that  trick  o'  blushin';  but 
there,  beet  is  beet,  and  what's  in  the  hands  comes  out  in 
the  face.    I'll  tell  her  so  when  I  gives  it  in  fur  bilin'." 

With  which  remark  he  chuckled,  and  settled  down  to 
his  weeding  once  more.  For  fifteen  years  he  had  made 
ineffectual  attempts  to  court  Martha,  and  nothing  now 
would  have  surprised  or  taken  him  aback  more  than  the 
faintest  success. 

On  her  side,  Martha  kept  up  the  conflict  with  external 
spirit,  but  with  a  certain  sneaking  admiration  also  for 
his  pertinacity.  As  she  went  back  to  her  kitchen  she 
also  chuckled.  "  Blushed  like  a  babby,"  she  murmured, 
"  an'  he  wrinkled  like  a  bad  batch  o'  bread.  I'll  tell 
him  that  there  beetroot's  bled  when  he  brings  it  in." 

Aura  by  this  time  was  out  of  the  woods  and  cresting 
the  bracken-patched  hillside,  the  silly  Welsh  sheep, 
alarmed  even  at  her  gracious  presence,  fleeing  from  the 
tussocks  and  rocks  far  ahead  of  her  with  grunts  and 
whistles  such  as  no  other  sheep  in  the  world  can  make. 

The  lilies  on  her  arm  brought  a  passing  sweetness  into 
the  fresh  morning  air,  and  as  she  carried  them  her 
thoughts  were  busy  with  what  Martha  had  said  to  her. 
What  did  it  all  mean?  Her  arms,  which  in  all  their 
young  and  vigorous  life  had  never  held  a  child,  closed 
tenderly  round  the  flowers  as  if  they  had  been  the  body 
of  the  dead  baby.  Poor  little  babe!  to  come  into  this 
world  unsought,  to  leave  it  to  be  quarrelled  over.  The 
motherhood  which  was  hers  by  right  of  her  sex  wakened 
in  her  strongly ;  she  laid  her  soft  cheek  caressingly  once 
more  on  a  white  petal,  then,  in  sudden  impulse,  she 
kissed  it  softly.  Poor  little  childie !  But  Gwen  had  loved 
it,  and  it  had  not  minded  being  unbaptized.  It  had  not 
even  minded  its  f atherlessness.    Neither  had  Gwen ;  but 


98  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

then  she,  poor  soul,  was  what  people  called  wanting. 
Wanting  in  what  ?    Not  in  motherhood,  certainly. 

Aura  had  often  seen  the  two  playing  together  on  the 
sunny  banks  about  the  shepherd's  cottage;  the  toddling 
baby  with  its  fists  full  of  its  mother's  curly  hair,  both 
faces  aglow  with  laughter  and  with  love. 

And  now  the  child  was  dead.    Poor  Gwen ! 

Aura,  accustomed  to  look  at  Nature  with  clear  eyes, 
and  utterly  untouched  by  conventional  conclusions,  felt 
a  wellspring  of  sympathy  rise  up  in  her  heart.  Such  a 
pretty  baby,  too,  as  it  had  been!  More  than  once  she 
had  paused  in  passing  to  watch  it  and  wish  that  she  too 
had  so  delightful  a  plaything,  thinking  that  with  so  abid- 
ing an  interest  in  them,  the  hills  and  woods,  the  streams 
and  flowers  of  her  secluded  valley  would  suffice  for  her 
life. 

And  now  it  was  dead ! 

Her  eyes,  blurred  with  tears,  made  a  misty  halo  round 
the  cottage,  tucked  out  of  man's  way  in  a  little  hollow 
among  the  hills.  A  desolate-looking  little  cottage,  gar- 
denless,  fenceless,  a  mere  human  habitation  set  down  be- 
side a  spouting  spring,  which  day  and  night,  night  and 
day,  splashed  on  in  high-pitched,  feeble,  querulous 
iteration. 

As  she  came  up  to  it  a  black  shadow  showed  on  the 
doorstep,  and,  through  the  mist  of  her  unshed  tears,  she 
recognised  it  as  the  figure  of  a  man.  It  was,  indeed,  the 
Reverend  Morris  Pugh  coming  away  from  consolation. 
He  paused  at  the  sight  of  her,  as  any  man  well  might, 
and  over  his  keen  Celtic  face  swept  a  wave  of  enthusi- 
astic approval.  His  hat  was  off,  his  smile  shone  out 
brilliantly. 

"  Excuse  me,"  he  said,  "  I  am  the  minister,  and  this 
is  kind  indeed;  those  beautiful  lilies,  they  will  surely 
comfort  the  poor  mother,  and  teach  her  to  trust  in  the 
mercy  of  Him  who  considers  the  flowers  of  the  fields — it 
■ — it  is  a  Christian  act. ' '  There  were  almost  tears  in  his 
voice. 

Aura  looked  at  him  and  smiled. 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  99 

"  But  I  am  not  a  Christian.  I  brought  them  for  the 
baby, ' '  she  said  simply. 

Morris  Pugh  's  eyes  narrowed.  ' '  I  am  sorry ;  and  they 
can  do  no  good  to  the  child.  God  has  taken  him.  Ven- 
geance is  mine,  saith  the  Lord,  I  will  repay.  Gwen  has 
to  learn  her  lesson,  poor  child. ' ' 

"  You  mean," — Aura's  face  had  grown  a  little  pale, — 
"  that  the  child's  death  is — is  a  punishment?  " 

"  It  is  done  in  love — the  Lord  loveth  whom  He  chas- 
teneth, ' '  he  replied  gently. 

' '  And  you  have  told  her  so  ?  " 

Something  in  the  girl's  tone  made  him  reply  on  the 
instant :  ' '  She  did  not  need  the  telling ;  she  knew  it  al- 
ready. ' ' 

"  She  knew  it  already!  " 

Aura  passed  him  like  a  flame  of  fire,  and  entered  the 
cottage  eager  with  her  purely  human  consolation ;  but  the 
note  of  preparation  within  struck  a  chill  to  her  very  soul. 

Old  Mrs.  Evans,  Gwen's  mother,  sat  in  a  black  dress 
with  her  Bible  before  her  at  the  receipt  of  custom.  The 
door  between  the  living-room  and  the  bedroom  was  half 
open,  and  through  it,  lying  on  a  table  covered  with  a 
white  sheet,  was  a  tiny,  still,  uncovered  form  in  a  white 
gown.  Aura  could  see  the  little  dimpled  hands  folded  so 
sedately  on  the  little  breast ;  it  sent  a  great  pang  through 
her  to  think  of  them  so  quiet. 

And  Gwen?    What  of  her? 

"  I  have  brought  these  lilies,"  she  said  almost  apolo- 
getically to  stout  Mrs.  Evans;  "  I  should  like  to  give 
them  to  Gwen,  if  I  may." 

Mrs.  Evans's  English  being  of  the  smallest,  she  sighed, 
rose,  and  saying  "  Pliss  you,  come  this  way,"  ushered 
Aura  with  her  armful  of  lilies  into  the  bedroom.  In  the 
further  corner  of  it,  her  apron  over  her  face,  sat  Gwen 
rocking  herself  to  and  fro,  and  muttering  under  her 
breath.  She  drew  down  the  apron  at  her  mother 's  touch 
and  quick  sentence  in  Welsh,  and  so  sat  staring  across  the 
body  of  the  dead  baby  at  Aura.  Her  face  was  more 
vacant  than  distraught,  its  pink  and  white  prettiness 


100  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

seeming  to  hide  the  tragedy  of  grief  which  must  surely 
lie  beneath  it. 

' '  I  have  brought  these, ' '  said  Aura,  laying  one  of  the 
lilies  beside  the  dead  child. 

With  a  cry,  fierce  as  a  wild  animal,  Gwen  sprang  to 
her  feet,  snatched  at  the  flower,  tore  it  shred  from  shred, 
and  flung  them  to  the  corners  of  the  room. 

"  Stand  back,  Englishwoman!  "  she  cried  in  Welsh, 
her  eyes  blazing  with  sudden,  wild,  distracted  passion. 
' '  Leave  us  alone !  We  are  accursed !  accursed !  we  want 
no  flowers  here."  Then  she  clung  to  her  mother  and 
wailed,  "  Oh !  mother,  take  it  away — take  the  child  away 
— I  do  not  want  it ;  it  is  accursed.  God  has  taken  it  away, 
and  it  must  go.  Let  her  take  it  if  she  wants  it ;  take  it 
away  and  bury  it  out  of  sight.  I  must  forget  my  sin — 
my  sin — my  sin!  Beth  n'ai!  Beth  n'ai!  Gwae  fi! 
heth  n'ai!  " 

The  mingled  sobbing  of  the  two  women,  roused  in  an 
instant  to  the  very  highest  pitch  of  unrestrained  emotion, 
smote  on  Aura 's  ears  turning  her  to  veritable  stone.  She 
understood  enough  to  grasp  the  drift  of  what  she  heard, 
and  with  a  quick  pulse  of  pity  for  the  quiet  rest  thus 
rudely  disturbed,  she  bent  and  kissed  the  clay-cold  child, 
then  turned  without  a  word  and  left  the  room.  Not 
to  be  long  alone,  however. 

The  elder  woman,  recovering  her  self-control  as  quickly 
as  she  had  lost  it,  followed  her  into  the  sunshine  beyond 
the  low  door,  and  arrested  her  with  mingled  tears  and 
apologies.  Gwen,  she  said  in  quaintest  English  and 
Welsh,  was  a  mad  iolin — just  a  silly  nonsense — though  it 
was  just  true  the  child  wass  better  to  die.  It  was  not  as 
the  'nother  one — here  she  looked  sorrowfully  at  a  five- 
year-old  who  was  busy  making  mud  pies  by  the  water- 
spout, and  shook  her  head — that  one  wass  two  shillin '  and 
sixpence  a  week.  Yess,  indeed!  because  her  daughter 
wass  for  ever  in  the  good  shentleman  placiss ;  but  Gwen — 
silly  nonsense,  Gwen — she  could  pay  nothing.  She  was 
not  all  wise 

Aura,  staring  out  into  the  sunshine  which  happed  the 


A    SOVEREIGN    rMeUY  101 

whole  beautiful  world-expanse  of  hill  and  wood  in  its 
magic  mantle,  looked  in  the  woman 's  really  grief -stricken 
face,  in  slow,  almost  incredulous  wonder. 

"  You  mean  that — that — "  she  hesitated,  pointing  to 
the  child — "  that  your  other  daughter  in  service  pays 
you  half  a  crown  ?  ' ' 

Something  in  her  voice  made  Mrs.  Evans  mop  her  eyes 
with  her  apron  still  more  strenuously.  "  It  is  the  price," 
she  protested ;  ' '  there  is  many  askiss  three  shillin  \  Mrs. 
Jhones  and  she  have  two,  an'  Mrs.  Daviss,  an' " 

i '  And  Gwen  gave  nothing !  ' ' 

The  words  seemed  to  Aura  to  burden  the  sunshine; 
she  turned  swiftly  to  go,  feeling  the  need  of  escape. 

"  But  the  ladiess,"  sobbed  Mrs.  Evans,  "  would  be 
given  a  shillings  or  so  when  they  be  comning.  Yess,  in- 
deed! a  shillings  or  so." 

Aura  wheeled,  the  lilies  still  in  her  arms.  ' '  I  have  no 
money,"  she  cried,  her  voice  ringing  with  passionate 
scorn,  "  I  never  have  any  money,  thank  God!  " 

So  with  quick,  springing  step,  her  whole  young  soul 
aflame  with  indignation,  she  was  off  breasting  the  hill, 
leaving  the  hollows  behind  her,  wishing  with  all  her 
heart  that  she  could  have  carried  the  dead  baby  with  her. 
To  call  it  accursed !  To  count  it  unbaptized !  The  dar- 
ling lying  there  so  peaceful,  so  still,  so  waxen,  so  like 
the  lilies.  Ah !  if  she  could  only  take  it  away  from  all 
the  sordid  thoughts,  what  burial  would  not  her  fingers 
compass  there  on  the  bosom  of  the  kindly  earth !  For  it 
and  for  the  lilies.  How  soft  it  should  lie,  how  flower- 
decked!  Yes,  the  great  white  petals  should  shield  the 
little  white  face  from  the  touch  of  the  close,  damp  earth, 
and  it  should  sleep — sleep — sleep ! 

The  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks  silently  as,  almost  at 
the  limit  of  her  young  and  vigorous  pace,  she  passed  on, 
passed  upwards,  pursued  by  the  one  overmastering  im- 
pulse to  get  away,  to  find  some  safe  resting-place  for 
what  she  would  fain  have  carried. 

But,  by  degrees,  her  thoughts  became  calmer;  she  be- 
gan to  see  the  whole  pitiful  story  and  put  her  finger  in- 


102  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

tuitively  on  the  points  of  offence ;  for  she  had  seen  little 
of  the  world,  and  knew  still  less  of  its  ways.  She  thought 
of  the  lowing  heifer  and  its  bull-calf,  of  the  second  brood 
of  young  blackbirds  over  whose  first  flight  she  had  but 
that  morning  seen  the  parents  so  excited,  and  then  she 
thought  of  the  fatherless  unsought  child  whose  only 
worth  was  the  bringing  of  two-and-sixpence  a  week  to  its 
grandmother ! 

Truly  her  grandfather  was  right.    Money  was  a  curse. 

But  so  were  other  things.  The  religion,  for  instance, 
which  told  poor  Gwen  that  her  child  was  accursed,  that 
its  death  was  a  punishment.  Poor  Gwen  seated  in  her 
threadbare  black,  with  her  apron  over  her  head,  so  unlike 
the  girl  in  a  blue  cotton  dress  who  used  to  tumble  about 
on  the  thyme  banks  with  her  boisterous,  rosy-cheeked 
baby. 

It  was  pitiful.  That  cry  Betlin'ai!  Beth  n'ai!  Gwae 
fi!  beth  n'ai!  rang  in  Aura's  ears  as  she  sat  down  at  last 
among  the  rocks  of  a  sheep-shelter  on  the  crest  of  a  hill. 
Here  in  winter  the  south-west  winds  howled  and  swept 
the  bare  braes,  wasting  their  force  against  the  lichen-set 
boulders  behind  which  even  the  shearling  lambs  could  lie 
snugly,  but  in  this  early  autumn  the  sun  baked  into  the 
close-cropped  turf,  and  mushrooms  grew  in  clusters  where 
the  lambs  had  lain. 

It  was  a  favourite  outlook  of  Aura's,  for  it  gave  over 
the  widening  estuary  and  the  sea  beyond.  Beyond  that 
again  the  setting  sun;  for  it  was  growing  late,  and  the 
autumn  days  began  to  close  in. 

She  sat  there  on  the  wild  thyme  thinking,  making  up — 
as  the  young  do  almost  unconsciously — her  mind  about 
many  things,  reaching  forward  to  the  future  vaguely 
with  certain  new  thoughts  regarding  it  in  her  mind,  and 
all  the  while  watching  the  great  pageant  of  the  Death  of 
Day  enact  itself  out  in  the  West. 

It  was  a  lurid  sunset ;  full  of  flames,  of  deep,  purple- 
stained  clouds.  It  was  a  pageant  of  passion,  self-existent, 
self -destroying. 

Yet  it  was  beautiful !    She  would  sit  and  watch  it  to 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  103 

the  end,  she  would  see  the  anger  and  the  threat  of  it  pass 
into  grey  calm  when  the  sun  had  gone. 

So  she  sat  on,  the  lilies  still  in  her  lap,  until  she  was 
roused  by  a  step,  by  one  word — 

"  Gwen!  " 

She  turned  startled,  to  see  the  startled  face  of  a  young 
man  behind  her.  It  was  a  beautiful  face,  the  sort  of  a 
face  which  women  love,  and  in  its  quick  amaze  there  was 
almost  a  hint  of  appeal,  of  hope  for  fair  hearing. 

The  girl  grasped  the  situation  in  a  moment.  He  had 
been  misled  by  her  blue  dress.  He  had  thought  she  was 
Gwen;  poor  frail  Gwen  who  was  not  "  all  wise,"  yet  still 
had  been  wise  enough  to  keep  this  secret  of  hers. 

He  turned  with  a  half -muttered  apology,  in  another  in- 
stant he  would  have  been  gone,  but  Aura's  strong,  firm 
fingers  were  on  his  wrist ;  she  looked  at  him  from  head  to 
foot,  judging  him. 

Then  with  one  swift  sweep  of  her  other  hand  she  struck 
his  handsome  face  full  with  the  fading  lilies  she  still  held. 

"  Coward!  "  she  said.    "  Go!  your  task  is  done!  " 

The  flowers  broke  softly  on  his  warm  flesh  and  blood, 
leaving  no  mark,  but  her  words  seemed  to  shrivel  him ; 
he  slunk  away. 

She  watched  him  disappear  down  the  hillside,  then 
with  a  sob  she  flung  herself  face  down  on  the  short  turf, 
crushing  the  lilies  to  their  death,  and  cried  as  though  her 
heart  would  break. 


CHAPTER   IX 

The  little  village  of  Dinas  was  in  a  turmoil.  Consider- 
ing its  small  size,  and  the  extreme  peace  of  its  situation 
happed  round  by  everlasting  hills,  and  so  cuddled  close 
to  the  very  heart  of  calm  creation,  it  held  an  extraordi- 
nary capability  for  fuss.  The  hot  Celtic  blood  would  get 
into  the  hot  Celtic  brain  at  the  slightest  provocation,  and 
it  had  risen  from  the  sub-normal  of  rural  life  to  the 
fever-heat  of  a  revolution  over  a  baby  whom  some  one 
had  refused  to  baptize,  and  some  one  else  had  declined  to 
bury. 

The  rector,  relying  on  the  Middle  Ages,  had  pointed  to 
the  nettle-grown  corner  reserved  for  those  whose  salva- 
tion was  doubtful.  The  whole  Calvinistic  body,  forgetful 
of  election  and  predestination,  had  fled  as  one  man  from 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  to  that  of  the  Burials  Act. 

Radical  religion  and  religious  radicalism  had  once 
more  met  in  grips,  and  the  guarantors  of  the  little  tele- 
graph station  in  the  village  breathed  freely  by  reason  of 
the  wires  that  were  sent,  and  that  came  from  the  princes 
and  powers  of  darkness  and  light  all  over  the  country. 

The  result  was,  of  course,  that  foregone  conclusion  of 
these  later  days — a  compromise.  The  churchyard  be- 
longed to  the  parish,  the  burial  service  to  the  Church. 
And  so,  with  a  curious  falter  at  its  innermost  heart  be- 
cause of  the  absence  of  the  rector 's  familiar  surplice  and 
biretta,  the  village  had  signalised  its  victory  by  a  tri- 
umphal following  of  Gwen  's  baby  to  the  grave,  not  of  its 
fathers,  but  its  mothers. 

As  they  gathered  round  the  coffin  which  looked  so  tiny 
far  away  down  in  the  greasy,  black  earth,  the  sound  of 
6 '  Day  of  wrath,  that  dreadful  day, ' '  sung  by  the  rector 
at  his  usual  evening  service,  floated  out  from  the  church 

104 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  105 

to  join  Morris  Pugh's  indignant  militant  prayer  to  the 
Almighty;  but  the  peaceful  little  dead  child  slept  un- 
disturbed by  either. 

Yet  the  rector,  honest  man,  had  no  ill-feeling  at  all, 
but  rather  a  profound  pity  for  the  lamb  of  his  flock  who 
had  been  lost  through  ignorance  on  his  part,  for  had  he 
known  of  its  illness  nothing  would  have  prevented  him 
from  storming  the  shepherd 's  hut  and  claiming  his  right 
as  rector.  Indeed,  but  for  the  necessity  for  reprobating 
the  scandalous  withholding  of  one  of  the  Church's  sacra- 
ments from  an  innocent  soul  because  its  parents  were 
blameworthy,  there  is  small  doubt  that  he  would  have 
asked  no  questions,  and  buried  the  small  dead  body  de- 
cently and  in  order.  As  it  was  he  came,  after  service  was 
over,  tall  and  cassock-garbed,  to  stand  beside  the  tiny 
mound  of  new-turned  soil  which  broke  the  lush  green  of 
the  churchyard,  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  over  it,  and 
pray  a  little  prayer  for  mercy. 

Nevertheless,  he  went  back  to  his  study  and  his  eccle- 
siastical histories  a  harder  man  for  the  incident.  His 
bishop  had  not  upheld  the  authority  of  the  Church ;  he 
had — in  all  reverence  be  it  spoken — hedged,  and  the  Rev. 
Gawain  Meredith  was  too  priestly,  soul  and  body,  for 
hedging  with  heretics. 

For  there  was  no  mincing  of  words  about  him.  The 
Wesleyans  were  possibly  schismatics ;  all  other  dissenters 
were  heretics,  and  the  Calvinistic  Methodists  the  most 
distinctly  dangerous  heretics  with  whom  he  had  to  deal. 
They  reminded  him  in  their  social,  religious,  and  politi- 
cal organisation  of  the  Jesuits  whose  history  he  was 
studying.  He  had  a  reluctant  admiration  for  their  deter- 
mination to  force  means  to  an  end,  and  he  saw  plainly 
how  much  capital  they  would  make  out  of  his  refusal  to 
bury  the  body.  Elections  to  the  parish  council  were  com- 
ing on,  and  he  had  already  made  himself  unpopular  by 
questioning  the  expenditure.  So  he  read  the  paragraphs 
concerning  the  baby's  burial  which  he  found  waiting  for 
him  on  his  study  table  in  the  weekly  local,  with  a  set- 
ting of  his  thin  lips.    They  might  turn  him  out  of  the 


106  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

council  if  they  choose,  but  while  he  was  in  it,  he  would  do 
his  duty  by  the  ratepayers. 

Morris  Pugh  had  read  these  same  paragraphs  in  manu- 
script ;  they  had  been  sent  to  him  for  revision,  and  he  had 
returned  them  without  a  word  of  comment ;  yet  he  had 
felt  a  vague  regret  pluck  at  his  heart. 

He  was  an  enthusiast,  pure  and  simple.  Those  chiefs 
of  his  party,  who  seized  so  quickly  on  every  point  of  van- 
tage, were  enthusiasts  and  something  more. 

He  felt  ill  at  ease ;  though,  in  attempting  to  get  at  the 
truth  concerning  Gwen's  fault  he  had  acted  almost  at 
the  instigation  of  his  elders.  Isaac  Edwards  and  Richard 
Jones,  stern  fathers  of  the  village,  had  been  inexorable, 
and  so  Gwen,  once  the  pride  of  the  choir,  despite  her  be- 
ing "  light  in  the  weighing,"  had  been  practically  ex- 
communicated. Not  that  there  had  ever  been  any  inten- 
tion of  such  excommunication  being  permanent,  or  of  its 
injuring  the  child ;  but  spasmodic  croup  waits  for  noth- 
ing, and  so — so  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  Burials  Act  had 
come  into  conflict. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  only  cause  for  Morris 
Pugh 's  uneasiness. 

Oddly  enough,  the  disturbing  element  was  the  hundred 
pounds  which  Ned  Blackborough  had  hidden  in  the  cleft 
of  the  rocks.  The  last  two  months  had  been  one  long 
temptation  to  go  and  take  it  at  all  costs — take  it  and  say 
nothing.  And  yet  his  soul  revolted  from  the  very  idea. 
The  constant  conflict,  however,  had  forced  him  into 
clearer  thought,  and  he  had  shrunk  back  in  horror  from 
much  that  he  saw  in  himself  and  others.  The  greed  of 
gold!  How  it  riddled  all  human  life;  it  even  touched 
the  next,  for  it  was  the  mainspring  of  religion.  Money ! 
Money!  There  was  a  perpetual  call  for  it.  Half  the 
spiritual  life  of  his  flock  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  those 
who  had  built  the  chapel  and  who  worked — for  God, 
no  doubt — but  also  to  get  five  per  cent,  interest  on  their 
mortgages. 

Yes!  the  souls  for  whom  Christ  died  were  bartering 
them  for  gold. 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  107 

0 !  for  something,  some  voicing  of  the  Great  Spirit,  to 
stir  them  to  a  nobler  commerce ! 

This  was  his  desire,  his  constant  prayer,  and  he  had 
grown  haggard  and  anxious  over  the  stress  of  both. 

The  last  two  days  also  had  brought  a  fresh  anxiety. 
Mervyn,  his  brother,  had  returned  from  a  month's  visit 
to  Blackborough,  curiously  moody,  curiously  unlike  him- 
self ;  that  is  the  earnest,  clever  lad  who  for  years  had 
been  the  pride  of  the  village,  the  joy  of  his  mother's  and 
of  his  brother's  heart.  No  doubt  his  failure  to  pass  the 
examination  had  discouraged  him ;  but  was  that  all  ?  It 
did  not  really  matter;  he  was  young  yet,  had  another 
chance,  and  meanwhile  could  go  on  as  he  was,  earning 
enough  to  keep  him  as  clerk  to  the  village  councils  and 
boards. 

So  as  Morris  Pugh,  hollow-eyed,  pale,  lingered  at  the 
grave  of  the  little  child  which  he  had  just  committed  to 
the  dust  whence  it  had  come,  there  was  no  stability 
in  his  thoughts.  They  wandered  on  dreamily  until,  sud- 
denly as  a  flash,  came  the  certainty  that  one  of  the 
many  mourners,  who  had  but  a  minute  before  been 
looking  down  on  the  tiny  coffin,  was  father  to  what 
it  held. 

And  he  had  stood  there  silent,  unrepentant ! 

Yes;  it  must  be  so,  for  poor  Gwen  was  no  wanderer; 
her  own  people  sufficed  for  that  limited  life. 

He  covered  his  face  with  his  hands  and  turned  swiftly, 
almost  to  stumble  over  his  brother  who  stood  behind  him. 
His  face  was  haggard  also,  and  Morris  looked  at  it  with 
a  quick  dread  clutching  at  his  heart. 

"  There's — there's  nothing  wrong  is  there — Merve — " 
he  faltered. 

The  lad  flushed  crimson.  "  Only  you've  trodden  on 
my  toe ;  that's  all,"  he  answered,  bending  low  to  brush  off 
the  dust  of  the  grave  which  his  brother's  foot  had  left 
on  his  boot. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  replied  Morris  Pugh  slowly; 
then  the  remembrance  that  he  was  pastor  here  as  else- 
where made  him  add,  "  I  was  so  overcome  by  thehorrible 


208  4    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

thought  that  the  father  of  that  poor  child  must  have  been 
here — beside  us,  Merve. ' ' 

But  the  lad's  face  was  up  again;  he  looked  his  brother 
calmly  in  the  face. 

"  I  suppose  he  was;  but  what  is  the  use  of  bothering 
about  it?  The  thing's  over — "  He  glanced  at  the  grave 
as  he  spoke,  and  looked  back  at  his  brother  almost  im- 
patiently. "Oh!  for  God's  sake,  Morris,  let  her  be — 
I  dare  say  it — it  was  a  sort  of  mistake — he  mayn't  have 
meant — but  anyhow,  the  thing's  done  with!  " 

1 '  Done !  ' '  echoed  Morris ;  ' '  how  can  it  be  done  with- 
out repentance  ?  ' ' 

Mervyn  's  handsome  eyes  narrowed,  his  lip  set.  ' '  And 
how  do  you  know  he  doesn't  repent?  If  the — the  baby 
had  lived  it  might  have  been  worth  while;  but  now—-" 
he  smiled  suddenly.  ' '  Don 't  worry  any  more  about  it, 
there's  a  good  chap.  Mother  will  be  waiting  tea  for  us, 
and  you  have  all  those  envelopes  to  send  round  this 
evening. ' ' 

Morris  Pugh  winced  under  the  reminder.  Yes!  to- 
morrow was  Collection  Sunday,  and  each  household  of 
the  faith  must  be  provided  with  an  envelope  addressed 
to  it  in  which  the  offering  must  be  enclosed,  thus  ena- 
bling those  in  authority  to  trace  home  any  inadequate 
donation. 

Oh !  would  the  time  never  come  to  the  Church  of  Christ 
when  the  Elect  would  need  no  such  precautions  against 
cheating  their  God  ?    For  that  was  what  it  meant. 

His  whole  soul  sickened  as  he  thought  of  how  each 
one  of  his  flock  would  weigh  the  balance  between  this 
world  and  the  next.  And  yet  a  good  collection  was  the 
vivifier  of  spiritual  life.  Without  it,  how  could  extra 
preachers  be  paid  for,  and  the  religio-social  work  of 
the  community  be  kept  up? 

It  was  late  ere  all  the  arrangements  for  the  morrow, 
including  a  reception  and  prayer-meeting  in  honour  of 
the  Reverend  Hwfa  Morgan,  who  was  to  conduct  the 
morning  service,  were  over ;  but  even  then  Morris  Pugh 
had  not  finished  his  work.    That  was  to  wrestle  through 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  109 

the  night  in  prayer  for  Divine  Guidance,  for  Divine 
Help. 

And  all  the  while  the  slow,  certain  stars  wheeled  in 
their  appointed  courses  to  meet  the  dawn,  the  dawn  that 
came  true  to  its  appointed  time. 

There  was  a  stir  in  the  village,  of  course.  To  begin 
with,  there  was  the  excitement  of  a  new  preacher. 
Would  he  come  up  to  his  reputation?  And  would  the 
performance  of  the  village  choir  be  satisfactory  ?  Then, 
as  all  the  outlying  members  of  the  congregation  came  in 
from  the  distant  farms  early,  there  was  the  additional 
excitement  of  hearing  and  giving  gossip.  As  one  of  the 
yearly  functions,  too,  Collection  Sunday  was  a  festival 
for  fine  clothes.  Alicia  Edwards  wore  hers,  an  entirely 
new  get-up  which,  remembering  Myfanwy's  look  at 
Mervyn,  and  having  in  mind  various  penny  novelettes 
in  which  jealousy  played  the  principal  part,  she  had  or- 
dered from  another  shop  in  Blackborough.  For  she  was 
becoming  reckless.  At  heart  she  was  an  excellent  crea- 
ture, but  her  education  had  been  against  her.  She  had 
learnt  so  much  that  was  absolutely  unnecessary  for  what 
she  wanted  to  make  out  of  life.  What  did  it  matter  to 
her  whether  she  could  reel  off  the  names  of  the  claimants 
to  the  crown  of  Spain  during  the  War  of  Succession? 
All  she  really  desired  was  love;  sentimental,  not  over- 
passionate  love.  Life  without  emotion  was  to  her  an 
empty  life.  Other  girls,  feeling  as  restless  as  she  did, 
might  have  defied  home  authority  and  followed,  say, 
Myfanwy  Jones's  lead;  but  she  was  too  dutiful,  and  in 
addition  she  had  a  reputation  to  keep  up,  the  repu- 
tation of  being  the  best  girl  in  the  village.  Her  father, 
of  whom  she  was  desperately  afraid,  talked  of  a  Train- 
ing College  for  Teachers ;  she  held  her  peace,  and  lived 
feverishly  for  the  moment.  That,  at  any  rate,  was  pro- 
ductive of  emotion ! 

So  she  put  on  her  finest  clothes  and  went  down  to 
meet  Mervyn  at  the  chapel  door,  and  greet  him  with  a 
sprightly  challenge  and  a  little  quiver  of  her  lip :  Not 
that  she  was  really  in  love  with  him.    Any  other  of  the 


HO  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

stalwart  young  men,  who  cultivated  the  same  forehead 
curl,  would  have  done  as  well,  if  he  had  been  attracted 
by  her  and  called  her  his  darling,  and  asked  her  to  be 
his  wife;  for  all  her  education  had  left  her  woman — 
woman  pure  and  simple. 

There  was  quite  a  crowd  at  the  chapel  door,  a  gen- 
eral excitement  over  the  thought  of  the  new  preacher, 
though  to  many  a  bent  old  man  and  worn  old  woman 
the  great  event  of  the  day  was  in  the  envelope,  safely 
tucked  away  in  the  Bibles  they  clutched  so  confidently. 
For,  realising  that  this  might  be  their  last  donation,  they 
had  given  their  ransom  for  the  skies.  Isaac  Edwards 
fussed  round,  keeping  a  watchful  eye  for  the  doubtful 
members  of  the  flock;  and  the  Reverend  Hwfa  Morgan, 
a  tall  young  man  who  might  have  looked  sensual  but  for 
his  exceeding  pallor,  spoke  to  the  favoured  few,  giving 
them  a  taste  of  his  fluency. 

He  was  extraordinarily  fluent.  His  periods  swept 
along  soundfully  and  brought  forth  many  encomiums 
in  the  brief  period  between  the  services,  for  the  evening 
hour  had  been  put  forward  to  the  afternoon  in  order  to 
allow  the  outermost  outsiders  to  get  home  ere  dark,  and 
thus  have  no  excuse  for  absence. 

So  the  westering  sun  shone  full  into  the  bare,  white- 
washed chapel  when  Morris  Pugh,  as  a  preliminary  to 
his  final  appeal,  stepped  forward,  and  the  Reverend 
Hwfa  Morgan  stepped  back  for  the  moment. 

There  was  the  difference  of  two  worlds  between  their 
faces.  As  Morris  gave  out  a  well-known  Welsh  hymn, 
a  little  sudden  thrill  seemed  to  vibrate  in  the  humanity- 
burdened  air  of  the  packed  chapel. 

What  was  it  f 

The  quaint  modulations  rose  and  fell  in  wide  compass, 
now  high,  now  low.  Would  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  speak 
in  a  singing  voice? 

The  thought  was  no  new  one;  it  had  been  in  Morris 
Pugh's  mind  as  he  had  listened  of  late  to  the  oft-told 
tale — which  grew  in  the  telling — of  the  mysterious 
music  in  the  church  on  Trinity  Sunday. 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  111 

But  no !  The  hymn  died  away  to  its  Amen,  and  there 
was  no  sign. 

So  he  began  his  address. 

And  then  suddenly  his  eye  caught  a  figure  by  the  door, 
a  figure  in  black,  close  veiled.  Surely  it  was  Gwen — 
Gwen  the  sinner? 

And  then  he  spoke  again.  He  had  passed  the  night  in 
prayer ;  he  had  eaten  nothing ;  the  whole  body  and  soul 
of  him  was  in  deadly  earnest. 

Whether  there  was  something  more  than  this  or  not, 
that  in  itself  has  to  be  reckoned  with,  especially  with  an 
emotional  audience. 

So,  as  he  spoke  of  the  dead  child,  an  old  woman,  her 
face  seamed  with  wrinkles,  seemed  to  feel  a  half- forgot- 
ten tug  at  her  breast  and  began  to  weep;  an  old  man, 
straining  with  almost  sightless  eyes  for  some  glimpse 
which  might  make  the  young,  flexible,  lamenting  voice 
more  earthly,  less  heavenly,  followed  suit.  Then  the 
golden  haze  which  filled  the  chapel  seemed  to  hold  a  radi- 
ance, and  close  to  the  speaker,  Alicia  Edwards  gave  a 
little  half -suffocated  cry  and  tore,  as  if  for  breath,  at  the 
laces  round  her  throat. 

And  still  the  insistent,  strenuous  voice  held  to  its  high 
protesting  pitch  of  passionate  reproof.  Its  cadence  was 
the  only  sound 

No!    What  was  that? 

From  the  figure  by  the  door  a  sound — the  merest 
shadow  of  a  sound! 

1  Just  as  I  am  without  one  plea/ 

The  Welsh  translation  of  a  sinner's  joy  was  familiar, 
and  a  thrill,  individual  yet  collective,  ran  through  the 
chapel  as,  turning,  every  one  in  it  saw  Gwen,  her  whole 
face,  sodden  with  tears,  transfigured  into  angelic  light 
and  peace  and  joy  as  she  sang — 

'  Save  that  Thy  Blood  was  shed  for  me.' 


112  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

The  strenuous  man's  voice  failed  suddenly  before  the 
exquisite  sweetness  of  the  woman's,  but  only  for  a  mo- 
ment. A  voice  less  strenuous,  yet  still  a  man's,  joined  in 
the  singing,  then  another  woman 's. 

So,  by  ones  and  twos  and  threes,  the  message  of  cer- 
tain salvation  grew  from  a  whisper  to  a  storm  of  sound. 

1 0  Lamb  of  God,  I  come! ' 

And  then? 

Then,  while  Morris  Pugh  stood  white,  trembling,  al- 
most appalled,  the  Reverend  Hwfa  Morgan  sprang  for- 
ward with  a  shout  of  "  Hallelujah!  " 

It  swept  away  the  last  barrier  of  reserve.  With  cries 
and  groans  the  congregation  leapt  to  its  feet  or  grovelled 
in  the  dust. 

"  Speak  to  them,  man,  speak  to  them,  the  Spirit  is 
upon  you,"  urged  the  Reverend  Hwfa  Morgan,  as  Mor- 
ris Pugh  still  stood,  paralysed  by  the  realisation  of  his 
prayer. 

So  he  essayed  to  speak,  but  the  power  did  not  lie  with 
him.  It  lay  in  the  soft,  almost  unearthly,  harmonies  of 
Gwen's  voice,  and  Mervyn's,  and  Alicia  Edwards,  fol- 
lowed by  those  of  many  a  young  man  and  maiden.  Over 
and  over  again  some  wild  Welsh  chant  pitted  itself 
against  prayer  or  preaching,  or  even  the  earnest  confes- 
sion of  sin  from  some  sinner,  and  always  with  the  same 
result,  a  victory  for  the  service  of  song.  Against  that 
soothing  background  even  Time  itself  seemed  lost.  The 
evening  drew  in  wet  and  stormy.  The  necessity  for 
closing  the  chapel  doors  burdened  the  pent  air  still  more 
with  man's  great  need  of  forgiveness.  The  miserable 
ventilation,  which  sanitation  allows  to  churches  and  for- 
bids to  theatres,  made  women  faint  and  strong  men  turn 
sick,  while  every  now  and  again  a  burst  of  unrestrained 
laughter  or  sobbing  told  of  nerves  strained  to  the  break- 
ing point. 

It  was  nigh  dawn  when,  by  the  light  of  a  pale  moon 
obscured  by  drifting  storm-clouds,  Morris  Pugh  turned 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  113 

the  key  in  the  chapel  door  with  a  trembling  hand.  The 
Reverend  Hwfa  Morgan  and  Isaac  Edwards  were  wait- 
ing for  him  on  the  wet,  glittering  steps. 

' '  That  is  over, ' '  he  muttered  slowly  in  Welsh. 

"  Over!  "  echoed  his  brother  cleric.  "  If  the  Lord 
will,  it  has  just  begun :  from  it  will  spread  a  wave  of  re- 
vival. You  and  those  sweet  singers — !  ' '  His  excitement 
was  too  much  for  him,  he  reverted  to  English,  "  Yes, 
indeed !    We  will  have  a  collection " 

Isaac  Edwards  slapped  his  thigh  with  an  inarticulate 
ejaculation. 

"  Morris  Pugh,,,  he  said,  his  voice  quivering  with  re- 
gret, "  we  have  forgotten  it.  God  forgive  us,  we  have 
forgotten  the  money!  " 


CHAPTER    X 

"  You  might  have  known,  if  you  hadn't  been  in  a 
dream, ' '  muttered  Mervyn  Pugh  as  he  sat,  his  face  hid- 
den in  his  hands.  ' '  Nothing  can  be  done  without  money, 
nothing,  and  it  wouldn't  have  mattered  if  it  had  not 
been  for  this  cursed  meeting — and — and  the  rector " 

"  Don't  curse  him,  Merve,"  broke  in  Morris  Pugh, 
who  stood,  with  the  look  of  one  newly  awakened,  near 
the  window,  gazing  out  vaguely  at  a  rising  star,  which 
lay  on  the  distant  hilltop  like  a  visitant  from  heaven. 
Even  as  he  looked,  his  mind  all  confused  and  blurred,  the 
novel  thought  came  to  him  that  with  such  high  and  holy 
messengers  at  His  command,  the  Creator  need  not  have 
condescended  to  send  such  farthing  dips  of  wandering 
lights  to  mark  His  elect,  as  some  which  had  been  mani- 
fested during  the  revival. 

For  a  month  had  passed  since  Gwen's  singing  of  the 
hymn  had  electrified  the  little  congregation  at  Dinas,  a 
month  during  which 

What  had  happened? 

Morris  Pugh,  looking  at  his  brother,  saw  that  past 
month  as  in  a  dream,  indeed.  He,  as  the  preacher,  for- 
getful of  everything  save  his  mission,  and  those  four 
voices,  Gwen's  soprano,  Alicia  Edwards's  contralto, 
Mervyn 's  tenor,  and  Hwfa  Morgan's  bass,  blending  into 
every  message  of  penitence  or  peace  which  emotion 
could  desire.  So  they  had  gone  preaching  and  singing, 
rousing  an  almost  frenzied  response  wherever  they  went. 
And  all  the  while 

' '  I  don 't  understand  yet, ' '  he  said  slowly.  ' '  Why  was 
all  this  money  required?  " 

Mervyn  echoed  the  "  all  "  with  half-pathetic  scorn. 

114 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  H5 

"  A  hundred  pounds  doesn't  go  far  in  running  a  re- 
vival," he  said  savagely.  "  One  must  start  the  thing. 
Why,  even  before  we  left  Dinas,  Gwen  and  Alicia  had  to 
get  their  clothes,  they  couldn't  go  in  what  they  had  got, 
and  there  was  music  wanted.  One  had  to  get  a  chorus, 
and  the  men  couldn't  sit  up  all  night  and  work  all  day. 
Morgan  and  I  talked  it  all  over,  for  some  one  must  look 
after  practical  things,  you  know,  and  I  said  I  would 
finance  it  till  the  subscriptions  came  in.  It's  no  use  your 
looking  like  that,  Morris.  Any  fool  would  tell  you  money 
had  to  be  got  somehow  for  the  time,  and  it  would  have 
been  all  right  but  for  this  row  with  the  rector.  That 
isn  't  my  fault. ' ' 

Morris  Pugh  started  as  if  he  had  been  stung.  "  No! 
it  was  mine,"  he  said.  "  I  am  the  elder.  I  ought  to 
have  considered. ' ' 

Mervyn  rose  quickly,  and,  going  over  to  his  brother, 
laid  a  caressing  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

* '  Now  don  %  Morris, ' '  he  said,  using  a  common  Welsh 
endearment,  ' '  let  us  forget  ourselves  for  a  while.  I  sup- 
pose it  was  wrong,  but — "  here  his  lip  quivered,  "  it 
musn  't  injure  the  work.  My  God  !  how  awful  that  would 
be."  He  flung  himself  on  the  chair  again  and,  stretch- 
ing his  arms  out  over  the  table,  positively  sobbed.  He 
was  a  prey  to  every  emotion,  every  feeling  that  in  this 
moment  of  anxiety  and  bewilderment  swept  over  him, 
for  he  and  his  brother  had  come  home  but  half  an  hour 
ago  full  of  elation  from  a  successful  meeting  at  the  other 
end  of  the  county,  to  find  that  the  rector,  ousted  member 
of  village  boards  and  councils,  had  insisted  on  a  scrutiny 
of  the  accounts  ere  making  over  office  next  day. 

And  Mervyn  knew  that  the  balance  would  be  a  hun- 
dred pounds  short ;  the  hundred  pounds  which  had  been 
paid  over  by  the  central  fund  for  educational  purposes, 
and  which  should  have  been  deposited  in  the  Post  Office 
Bank  when  it  had  come  in  a  month  ago.  He  had  not 
done  so,  however,  because,  on  emergency,  he  had  bor- 
rowed the  loan  of  the  use  of  it  for  something  else. 

To  do  him  justice  that  was  all  he  had  meant.     Once 


HQ  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

the  revival  was  fairly  started  the  monetary  question 
could  be  allowed  to  crop  up,  but  without  money  in  the 
background  to  make  it  possible  to  pose  as  having  no  re- 
gard to  money,  how  could  the  very  committees  which 
would  work  the  business  properly  be  called  into  exist- 
ence ?  At  the  time  he  had  thought  of  nothing  but  God 's 
service,  and  even  now  he  felt  little  remorse.  His  sense 
of  conversion  was  too  strong,  and  the  whole  month  of 
incessant  irritation  of  every  possible  religious  emotion 
had  left  him  a  pulp  so  far  as  actual  facts  were  con- 
cerned .  .  .  and  as  a  rule  the  village  accounts  went  on 
and  on  endlessly  .  .  . 

He  lifted  up  his  hand  and  smote  the  table  impotently. 
Great  heavens!  what  was  to  be  done?  That  hundred 
pounds  must  be  replaced  somehow. 

As  he  thought  of  how  it  had  been  spent,  he  felt  vaguely 
uncomfortable  over  an  item  which  had  gone  to  pay  a 
small  bill  of  his  own,  contracted  in  amusing  Myfanwy 
Jones  at  Blackborough.  He  felt  ashamed  of  that,  but  he 
had  no  shame  for  other  things  in  the  further  past.  A 
curious  fanatical  exultation  filled  him  as  he  thought  how 
marvellous  were  God's  ways,  and  how  men  and  women, 
sinners  utterly,  might  stand  in  all  innocence  together 
and  proclaim  infinite  mercy.  Inscrutable  mystery !  Al- 
most incredible  secret  tie  of  forgiven  sin,  which  made  the 
voices  thrill  and  blend. 

And  this  must  end  unless  there  was  money.  They  had 
but  a  few  hours,  and  even  Hwfa  Morgan  was  not  there 
to  help  with  advice.  He  would  not  return  till  morning, 
so  there  was  only  poor,  dreamy  Morris,  absorbed  in  the 
personal  issues. 

There  was  but  one  issue!  That  there  should  be  no 
setback  to  the  overwhelming  success  of  the  revival. 

For  it  had  been  successful  beyond  measure,  in  works 
as  well  as  words. 

In  Dinas  itself,  the  cotoneaster-covered  inn  might  have 
put  up  its  shutters  for  all  the  liquor  sold  at  the  once- 
frequented  bar.  There  was  no  swearing  or  quarrelling 
from  one  end  of  the  parish  to  the  other.     Even  the 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  117 

snaring  of  their  neighbours'  rabbits  for  Sunday  dinner, 
ultimate  crime  of  a  Welsh  quarryman,  had  ceased.  And 
these  were  but  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  a  great 
inward  and  spiritual  grace.  A  sense  of  perfect  personal 
peace  had  fallen  upon  the  mass  of  men. 

There  were  no  more  anxieties,  no  more  fears.  Heaven 
and  its  golden  harps  were  within  the  reach  of  all,  and, 
looking  forward,  each  personality  could  see  itself  sur- 
viving death  and  going  on  unchanged  for  ever  and  ever 
and  aye.  So  the  Grave  had  lost  its  Victory.  Each 
trivial  soul  was  safe. 

The  result  in  pure  morality,  not  only  in  Dinas  but 
throughout  the  whole  countryside,  was  unquestionable. 
Even  those  who  disapproved  of  such  emotional  excite- 
ment, or  who,  like  the  rector,  viewed  with  disfavour  all 
outpourings  of  grace  except  through  the  appointed  chan- 
nels, could  not  deny  this,  and  were  driven  to  darkling 
hints  as  to  the  staying  power  of  such  religious  feeling. 

Only  Martha,  going  down  in  state  to  order  the  usual 
gross  of  matches  at  the  village  shop— the  carriage  ar- 
rangements precluded  their  purchase  with  all  other 
things  at  the  Stores— fell  foul  of  the  whole  business, 
lock  and  stock  and  barrel,  to  Isaac  Edwards,  whom  she 
found  singing  hymns  while  he  did  up  the  pound  package 
of  sugar,  in  which  the  paper,  heavy  blue,  was  included 
in  the  weight.  Not  that  it  was  his  fault  that  this  was 
so.  It  was  only  one  of  the  usual  tricks  of  a  trade  which 
on  a  small  scale  cannot  possibly  be  run  straight. 

"  You'll  excuse  me,"  she  said  with  a  sniff,  "  but  it 
strikes  me  as  you're  all  a  deal  too  free  with  the  Almighty. 
But  there,  once  folk  stops  making  their  reverences  to  the 
gentry,  'tain't  long  ere  they  get  to  noddin'  at  their  Crea- 
tor. An'  you  don't  go  to  the  Bible  for  your  crowded- 
up  night-watches,  Mr.  Edwards.  King  David,  an'  he 
oughter  know,  says  mornin',  evenin',  an'  noon.  At  night 
'e  watered  'is  bed  with  'is  tears  an'  was  still,  like  a 
decent  gentleman.  There  wasn't  none  of  this  not-comin'- 
home-till-mornin'  business,  and  how  folks  as  'as  to  work 
hard  for  their  livin'  does  it,  beats  me.    I'll  set  up  agin 


118  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

most,  but  I'm  a  pore  piece  next  day,  an'  wouldn't  ask  a 
full  wage  of  anybody,  not  I !  And  as  for  the  young  folk ; 
you  mark  my  words,  Mr.  Edwards!  Gels  is  gels,  an' 
boys  is  boys,  whether  they  stands  in  a  kirk  or  a  mill,  as 
the  sayin'  is.  An'  they'll  find  it  out  for  theirselves, 
poor  sillies,  by  an'  by,  if  them  as  is  past  '  youth's  hay- 
day  '  don't  harvest-home  'em  before  lights  out.  So 
there !  An '  you  can  send  up  a  gross  an '  a  half  o '  matches 
if  you  think  that  not  bein'  o'  your  way  o'  believin'  I 
shall  'ave  to  'arden  myself  to  brimstone. ' ' 

So  she  had  departed;  but  her  warnings  had  been  as 
chaff  before  the  wind  while  the  harvest  was  being  gath- 
ered in. 

The  flood-tide  of  popular  opinion  lifted  even  the 
wildest  extravagances  as  well  as  the  most  sober  actuality 
and  carried  them  with  it.    AYhither  remained  to  be  seen. 

And  now? 

Morris  Pugh,  standing  at  the  window  looking  in  dull 
amaze  at  the  star  which  had  by  this  time  dissociated  itself 
entirely  from  earth,  could  not  think  what  would  happen 
now. 

Everything  on  which  he  had  any  grip  seemed  to  have 
gone.  Since  that  day,  a  long  month  ago,  when  his  voice 
had  failed  before  Gwen's  voice,  he  had,  like  the  star,  dis- 
sociated himself  from  the  material  world  altogether.  He 
had  given  the  rein  to  his  emotions,  he  had  lived  in  the 
clouds,  never  asking  or  thinking  how  Alicia  and  Gwen 
came  to  be  dressed  so  becomingly,  never  inquiring  how 
the  expenses  of  railway  tickets,  hiring,  placarding,  ad- 
vertisements, notices  in  the  papers,  all  the  thousand  and 
one  absolute  necessities  for  a  successful  meeting,  were 
defrayed.  So  the  truth  came  upon  him  with  deadly 
force.  Morally  a  far  stronger  man  than  his  brother, 
he  could  not  for  the  moment  get  beyond  the  actual  fact 
of  fraud. 

How  could  Mervyn  have  taken  the  money?  How 
could  he  ? 

' '  Well !  ' '  said  the  latter  at  last,  rising  to  pace  the  room 
impatiently,  nervously.    "  Can't  you  suggest  something? 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  119 

The  money  must  be  replaced  somehow.  We  daren't  risk 
anything.  What  can  be  done  ?  and  in  the  next  few  hours. 
— Oh !  it  is  maddening  to  think  how  many  would  be  will- 
ing to  lend  it  if  we  had  only  time!  To  think  even  of 
the   thousands   who   have   hundreds   and   hundreds    of 

pounds  to  fling  away  on  a  fancy,   and  this "   he 

paused,  arrested  by  his  brother's  face.  "  What  is  it, 
Morris  ?  what — what  makes  you  look  like  that  ?  ' ' 

For  answer  Morris  sank  to  his  knees  and  covered  his 
face  as  if  in  prayer.  ' '  I  thank  Thee,  0  my  God !  "  he 
murmured,  "  this  hast  Thou  prepared  aforetime.  0  ye 
of  little  faith— of  little  faith!  " 

"  What  is  it,  Morris?  "  repeated  Mervyn  curiously. 
The  last  month  had  done  its  work  on  him  also.  He  was 
prepared  for  all  things,  all  signs,  and  wonders.  "  You 
might  tell  me, ' '  he  added,  after  a  pause. 

"  No!  " 

Morris's  face  came  up  from  his  hands  full  of  tri- 
umphant, transcendental  exultation.  "  No!  That  is  a 
secret  between  me  and  my  God.  But  the  hundred  pounds 
is  found !  It  is  found,  I  tell  you  !  Oh !  marvellous,  most 
marvellous!  Truly  He  moves  in  a  mysterious  way  His 
wonders  to  perform !    Hallelujah!    Hallelujah!" 

For  Mervyn 's  words  had  recalled  to  him  in  a  flash  the 
half -forgotten  memory  of  Ned  Blackborough 's  hidden 
money,  and  his  mind  attuned  to  miracles,  super-sensitised 
to  the  direct  dealings  of  Providence  with  man,  leapt  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  hundred  pounds,  so  idly,  so  care- 
lessly flung  away  on  what  appeared  a  mere  fancy,  was 
in  truth  a  heavenly  provision  against  this  urgent  need. 

The  thought  explained  so  much.  The  devil  of  greed 
within  him,  which  had  urged  him  to  take  the  money  for 
his  own  use — the  gradual  unfolding,  through  this  tempta- 
tion, of  the  desire  for  some  outpouring  of  the  Spirit. 
Here  were  more  marvels  than  he  had  time  at  present  to 
consider.  The  great  fact  was  sufficient,  that  in  the  wilder- 
ness the  table  had  been  spread. 

"  It  was  wrong  to  take  the  money,  Merve,"  he  said,  his 
face  suffused  with  a  heavenly  joy ;  ' '  we  must  not  forget 


120  A-    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

that — we  must  weep  and  pray  over  that ;  but  it  was  for 
His  service,  and  He  has  forgiven  us — the  money  is 
found!  " 

"  But  when — that  is  the  point,"  began  Mervyn  anx- 
iously; "  it  must  be  by  to-morrow  morning,  and  it  is 
late " 

"  You  will  wake  to  find  it  on  the  Bible  by  your  bed- 
side, my  brother,"  interrupted  Morris  solemnly,  "  and 
then  we  will  give  thanks  unto  the  Lord,  for  He  hath  done 
marvellous  things.  Come  to  supper  now;  our  mother 
will  be  anxious  at  our  delay.  Leave  the  rest  in  His 
hands." 

The  moon  was  riding  high  amid  the  stars  when  Morris 
Pugh,  closing  the  door  of  the  sleeping  cottage  behind 
him  with  a  whispered  benediction  on  its  inmates,  started 
for  his  climb  to  the  gap  where  Ned  Blackborough  had 
hidden  the  hundred  pounds.  The  night  air  struck  chill, 
for  it  was  late  October,  but  he  was  in  far  too  exalted  a 
frame  of  mind  to  consider  such  earthly  things  as  over- 
coats or  comforters.  His  exaltation,  indeed,  would  have 
seemed  incredible  even  to  the  self  of  six  weeks  ago ;  for, 
despite  his  enthusiasm,  he  had  been  hard-headed  and 
practical  enough.  Now,  enervated  by  constant  use  of  his 
emotions,  it  seemed  to  him — full  to  the  brim  as  he  was 
by  right  of  his  Cymric  birth  with  imaginative  fire,  poetry 
passion — that  he  was  going  up  into  the  mountain  alone 
to  meet  his  Lord  and  receive  a  gift  from  His  hands. 

He  felt  as  Moses  must  have  felt  on  Pisgah,  as  St. 
Jerome  felt  when  the  last  Sacrament  was  vouchsafed  to 
him.  Those  last  few  weeks  had  made  an  ecstatic  out  of 
the  enthusiast.  He  saw  nothing  but  his  Lord,  he  heard 
nothing  but  the  call  to  come. 

Marvellous !    Most  marvellous ! 

Yes!  of  a  truth!  for  about  him — to  him  unseen — lay 
the  great  marvel  of  the  Real  Presence  in  the  world,  above 
him  the  marvel  of  the  Real  Presence  in  the  skies  and 
stars.  But  the  stones  were  to  his  eager  feet  but  stum- 
bling-blocks, the  glory  of  the  starlight  and  the  moonlight 
was  but  the  halo  of  a  concrete  heaven. 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  121 

Still  it  was  very  rapture;  worth  in  itself  a  thousand 
times  the  petty  hundred  pounds  which  had  called  it  into 
being.  Put  into  bald  English,  here  was  a  man  going  to 
take  money  which  he  wot  of,  in  order  to  save  his  brother 
from  disgrace.  Translated  into  the  terms  of  emotional 
religion,  here  was  a  sinner  about  to  find  salvation. 

The  night  was  very  clear,  very  cold.  The  stars 
sparkled  brilliantly,  aloofly.  There  was  a  suspicion  of 
frost-crackle  in  the  thick  covering  of  dew  which  lay  like 
a  filmy  gossamer  quilt  over  the  grassy  uplands.  The 
startled  sheep  left  a  darker  track  of  dew-despoiled 
herbage  behind  their  flying  footsteps.  There  was  no 
cloud  upon  the  sky  whose  velvet  darkness  seemed  devoid 
of  light  save  for  the  unhaloed  moon  and  the  sharp  shin- 
ing stars. 

But  Morris  Pugh  saw  none  of  these  things.  He  had 
found  what  he  sought — what  all  Religions  seek — the  Self 
that  is  not  yourself.  He  had  found  it  through  an  ab- 
straction of  the  mind,  not  through  the  manifold  face  of 
matter.  But  the  sense  of  finality,  of  universal  Oneness, 
comes  in  a  thousand  ways,  and  he  felt  it  fully.  He  could 
have  sung  in  the  gladness  of  his  heart,  even  while  his 
stumbling  feet  bruised  themselves  over  the  unheeded 
stones. 

The  little  rush-fringed  pool,  by  which  he  had  sat  with 
the  others  asserting  that  money  was  the  root  of  all  evil, 
lay  so  still,  so  shining,  so  set,  that  it  also  might  have 
been  frost-bound — like  the  heart  of  man  before  the  Mercy 
of  the  Most  High  had  touched  it. 

The  root  of  all  evil ! 

Morris  smiled.  He  knew  better  now.  There  was 
nothing  evil  in  the  Holiest  of  Holies.  Money  was  a  great 
gift. 

So,  as  if  before  an  altar,  every  atom  of  him,  soul  and 
body,  thrilling  with  high  expectation,  he  knelt  before  the 
cleft  in  the  rock  to  receive  what  had  been  given.  His 
very  hands  trembled. 

"  Not  unto  us,  Lord,  but  unto  Thy  name,"  he  mur- 
mured softly. 


122  A-    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Then  came  a  pause.  His  fingers,  feeling  the  cleft, 
found  it  empty. 

Empty !  Incredible  !  Impossible !  A  great  amaze  took 
him.  He  stood  up  and  stared  vacantly  at  the  receding 
whiteness  of  the  dew-covered,  moonlit  steeps. 

Empty ! 

Then  what  became  of 

Of  everything! 

He  had  been  so  buoyed  up  by  certainty.  He  had  been 
so  sure  of  himself  and  of  his  God.  He  sat  down  on  the 
frost-wet  grass  after  a  time  and  tried  to  think ;  but  his 
mind  was  in  a  maze.  He  followed  one  path  of  thought 
after  another,  always  to  be  brought  up  by  that  barrier 
of  feeling  that  he  had  been  fooled ;  or  he  had  fooled  him- 
self. Had  it  not  been  for  his  previous  exaltation,  his 
exultation,  he  might  by  degrees  have  accepted  the  situa- 
tion and  considered  which  of  the  three  other  participants 
in  the  secret  had  been  beforehand  with  him.  But  there 
was  no  question  of  being  beforehand  with  him.  If  what 
he  had  felt — nay!  had  known — was  true,  they  had  been 
beforehand  with  God. 

How  long  he  sat,  he  did  not  know.  It  came  upon  him 
by  surprise  to  hear  the  voice  of  a  shepherd  calling  to  his 
dogs.  He  looked  round,  and  lo !  it  was  long  past  dawn. 
He  must  go  back  and  tell  Mervyn  that  he  had  made  a 
mistake ;  or  was  it  Someone  else  who  had  been  tricked  ? 

When  he  arrived  at  the  village  the  first  early  hour 
had  passed,  and  folk  were  already  beginning  the  day's 
work.  Ah !  what  would  Mervyn  say,  and  what  would  he 
do? 

It  was  terrible  to  try  the  latch  of  the  cottage,  find  it 
open,  and  know  that  his  brother  must  be  waiting  for 
him;  waiting  so  anxiously.  But  there  was  a  respite. 
Mervyn  was  not  in.  Hwf  a  Morgan  had  arrived  early,  the 
woman  who  tended  the  house  said,  and  they  had  gone 
out  together  just  as  she  came  in  to  light  the  fire. 

Morris  sat  down  beside  it  vaguely  relieved.  Hwfa 
Morgan  might  think  of  something.  Meanwhile  the 
warmth  of  the  fire  was  comforting.    He  must  have  been 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  123 

very  chill.  His  blood  seemed  to  rush  and  bound  through 
him  like  a  melting  river. 

He  was  startled  from  a  half -doze  by  Mervyn's  en- 
trance, and  he  stood  up  unsteadily. 

"  I  am  sorry,  brother/'  he  began,  "  but  I — I  mean 
some  one  has  failed " 

Mervyn  interrupted  him  curtly.  "  It's  lucky  I  didn't 
trust  to  you — but  it  is  all  right — the  thing's  settled. 
Hwf  a  Morgan  turned  up  this  morning,  and  as  you  hadn  't 
come  back  we  talked  it  over,  and  he  suggested  taking 
Edwards  into  our  confidence.  So  we  went  over  to  him, 
and  he  saw  it  would  be  as  dangerous  to  his  interests  as 
to  ours  if  there  was  any  fuss,  so  he  consented  to  take 
our  security — yours,  too,  of  course — that  he  shouldn't 
be  a  loser,  and  gave  me  a  voucher  of  deposit  all  right. 
It  can  only  be  a  question  of  a  fortnight  or  so,  for  once 
a  Central  Committee  takes  over  the  revival  regularly  our 
expenses  will  be  paid " 

1 '  But  the  voucher  ?  ' '  began  Morris. 

Mervyn  interrupted  him  impatiently,  his  naturally 
high  colour  heightening  itself  considerably. 

"Oh!  yes!  of  course.  He — he  antedated  it.  Luckily 
there  had  been  no  other  deposits  for  three  weeks,  so  the 
numbers  on  the  counterfoils  worked  all  right.  And  it 
doesn  't  really  matter  to  any  one,  does  it  ?  " 

He  spoke  a  trifle  defiantly. 

' '  No, ' '  replied  his  brother,  with  an  odd  sound  between 
a  sob  and  a  laugh.  "  I  don't  suppose  it  matters  to — to 
any  one.  I — I  think  I  '11  go  to  bed,  Merve — I  must  have 
got  a  chill  on  the  mountains — I — I  don't  feel  well." 

' '  But  there  is  the  meeting, ' '  expostulated  Mervyn ;  "  it 
won't  go  without  you." 

Morris  shook  his  head.  "  I  should  be  no  use,  Mervyn 
— I — I  can't  even  think."  And  then,  strong  man  as  he 
was,  he  broke  down  into  sobbing. 


CHAPTER    XI 

A  whirling  spin  and  din  of  machinery  filled  the  air. 
All  around  was  endless  revolution,  above  was  the  cease- 
less, curiously  slow  progression  of  the  driving  bands, 
those  heavy-footed  transmitters  of  elusive  incomprehensi- 
ble f oree,  and  below,  under  the  great  iron  framings  which 
held  half  a  million  machines  in  position,  were  men  and 
women,  grime-covered,  fluff-covered,  dust-covered,  ac- 
cording to  their  trade,  all  moving  about  like  automata 
with  dead-alive  hearts  and  hands,  attending  on  some  mar- 
vellous adaptation  of  mechanical  power  devised  by  those 
sane  human  hearts  and  hands  out  of  their  own  powers. 
Pulley  and  lever,  and  inclined  plane,  with  all  their  end- 
less derivatives,  were  hard  at  work,  for  Blackborough  was 
the  biggest  manufacturing  centre  in  the  kingdom,  and 
Blackborough  was  in  the  middle  of  its  day's  work. 

And  then,  suddenly,  a  clock  struck.  Another  given 
moment  of  eternity  had  passed,  the  wheels  stopped,  the 
throbbing  air  grew  still.  Then  from  a  thousand  wide 
gateways  humanity  began  to  stream  forth  to  flood  the 
streets.  The  stream  was  thinner,  less  continuous  than 
usual,  for  it  was  Saturday ;  therefore  pay-day,  and  tallies 
had  to  be  made  up  at  the  cashier 's  desk. 

So  they  came  out  by  twos  and  threes,  counting  their 
gold  and  silver.  For  half  Blackborough,  the  past  six 
days  had  resolved  themselves  into  pounds,  shillings,  and 
pence. 

"  She  won't  be  'ere  likely,  o'  Monday, "  sniggered  one 
of  two  girls,  their  hair  already  in  curling-pins  against 
the  evening's  outing,  as  they  passed  a  weary-looking  wo- 
man whose  thin  shawl  failed  to  conceal  her  figure,  and 
whose  heavy  foot  dragged  over  the  greasy  pavement. 
"  Wot  ever  did  she  go  and  get  married  for,  an'  to  sech 

124 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  125 

a  drunken  fellar  too.  She  was  a  good-lookin'  gel  and  'ad 
a  good  time  four  year  back." 

"  Oh !  She'll  be  at  it  agin  in  a  month's  time  none  the 
worse, ' '  giggled  the  other  girl  pertly.  ' '  She  lost  'er  two 
fust,  an'  this  'un  'ull  go  too,  you'll  see.  Just  as  well, 
and  they  comin'  so  rapid.  My !  They  is  fair  beasts,  they 
husbands ;  but  I'd  see  mine  futher  fust,  I  would !  " 

And  then,  as  they  hurried  home  to  dress,  they  fell  to 
discussing  the  new  hats  which  were  "  to  do  the  real  trick 
with  their  boys  "  on  Sunday,  when  a  long  cycle  ride  was 
to  end  in  a  midnight  train,  a  late  supper,  and  after  that 
bed — if  there  was  time ! 

Even  in  their  mill  garb,  they  helped  to  swell  the  gen- 
eral tendency  to  lark  and  titter  in  the  streets;  but  in 
truth  those  same  streets  were  a  somewhat  curious  sight 
on  Saturday  afternoons,  when,  with  money  in  its  pocket, 
humanity  was,  at  last,  at  leisure  to  be  human ;  to  loiter, 
to  laugh,  and  to  make  love.  For  the  upper  crust  of 
Blackborough  society — the  old  red-sandstone  section  la- 
belled ' '  Court  ' '  in  the  social  stratification  of  the  postal 
directory — made  a  point  of  rural  week-ends,  so  leaving 
the  human  pie  free  from  any  covering  of  culture. 

It  was  amusing  to  watch.  Advocates  of  realism  would 
have  found  pictures  and  to  spare  amid  the  overdressed 
girls  whose  week's  wage  had  been  squandered  on  their 
finery,  in  the  undersized  boys  prematurely  given  to  ogle 
who  had  spent  theirs  on  football,  bets,  and  cheap 
cigarettes. 

And  as  the  daylight  died  down  the  squalor  of  it  all 
showed  still  more  clearly  beneath  the  flaring  gas-jets. 
Especially  in  the  market  streets  where  all  the  week's 
refuse  of  the  great  city  was  exposed  for  sale,  warranted 
sound,  while  buyer  and  seller  alike  winked  over  the 
warranty ! 

Purple  heaps  of  fly-blown  meat  labelled  ' '  prime  cuts  ' ' 
in  the  butcher-shops,  battered  tomatoes  on  the  barrows 
with  "  best  home-grown  "  flaunting  in  green  and  gold 
lettering  above  them;  "  genuine  "  butter,  "  fresh  "  eggs, 
and  "  selected  dairy-fed  pork,"  jostling  each  other  in  a 
booth. 


126  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Such  is  the  market  which  centuries  of  civilisation  have 
provided  for  the  poor. 

And  the  endless  crowd  passed  and  repassed,  with 
money  in  its  pocket,  lingering  in  groups  about  the  gin 
shines  at  the  corners,  giggling,  cursing,  gossiping,  quar- 
relling; each  person  treading  on  the  heels  of  the  next, 
and  leaving  no  human  footfall  on  the  oozy  pavement; 
only  blisters  and  scars,  only  the  certainty  that  some 
living  thing  had  walked  through  the  mire  and  carried 
some  of  the  dirt  away  with  it. 

' '  Fine  turbit !  fine  fresh  Grimsby  turbit !  ' '  shouted 
a  man  with  a  barrow.  As  he  turned  down  a  darker  by- 
street, a  phosphorescent  glimmer  shone  from  his  pile  of 
stale  plaice  as  a  testimony  to  eternal  truth ! 

Peter  Ramsay,  house  surgeon  to  St.  Peter's  Hospital 
round  the  corner,  making  his  way  thither  on  his  bicycle, 
followed  on  the  glimmer,  vaguely  interested  as  to  whether 
that  semi-putrescent  fish  bought  for  Sunday's  breakfast 
would  send  him  a  new  patient. 

1  i  It 's  fresh,  is  it  ?  "  asked  a  wistful-looking  old  woman 
from  a  doorway. 

"  Smell  it,  laidy!  There  ain't  no  extry  charge,"  re- 
torted the  coster  surlily. 

The  old  woman  shook  her  head.  That  test  was  too 
stern.  "  She  comes  from  Cornwall,"  she  murmured  to 
herself,  "  so  'twud  put  her  more  in  mind  o'  'ome,  nor 
liver,  wouldn't  it?  " 

There  was  a  chink  of  coppers  behind  Peter  Ramsay 
as  he  rode  on,  thinking  that  some  folk  ought  to  be  pun- 
ished for  trying  to  ptomaine-poison  the  king's  lieges. 

But  his  mind  was  full  of  something  else,  and  before 
five  minutes  were  over,  he  was  looking  down  on  a  sleeping 
boy,  and  wondering  vaguely  for  the  hundredth  time  if 
he  or  the  other  doctors  were  right?  Would  an  opera- 
tion— not  a  known  one,  of  course,  but  one  based  on  new 
lines — be  of  any  use  or  not?  He  would  dearly  have 
liked  to  try. 

In  truth  here,  in  the  spick  and  span  ward,  amid  those 
who  had  been  brought  in  sickened  by  that  outside  squalor, 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  127 

it  was  difficult  to  realise  any  lack  of  hygiene,  any  lack 
of  fair  dealing.  Yet  that  lack  had  left  its  mark  on  the 
sleeping  face  of  the  boy.  It  lay  with  a  cunning  elusive 
look  on  its  sharp  features  among  the  white  pillows.  What 
a  shutting  of  the  door  when  the  steed  was  stolen  it  all 
was! 

Looking  at  him  critically,  preternaturally  sharp,  pre- 
ternaturally  diseased  in  mind  and  body  as  he  was,  it 
seemed  to  be  a  life  not  much  worth  saving;  and  yet! — 
if  it  could  be  saved ! 

The  upright  wrinkles  on  Peter  Ramsay's  forehead 
corrugated  the  transverse  ones  as  he  told  himself  it  was 
useless  to  think  of  it  here ;  in  Vienna  it  would  have  been 
different.  He  had  already  so  far  as  in  him  lay  en- 
couraged the  performance  of  a  critical  new  operation 
the  very  next  week,  and  one  was  enough  at  a  time.  He 
was  very  keen,  very  confident,  this  young  surgeon,  fresh 
from  his  life  abroad ;  ready  to  criticise  even  his  superiors 
if  they  seemed  to  him  old-fashioned.  For  his  hands 
reaching  out  into  the  darkness  around  him  had  felt  the 
touch  of  Something — Something  that  he  would  not  lose 
touch  of  though  it  eluded  him;  so  he  followed  it  fast, 
almost  heedlessly. 

This  boy ?    If  he  had  had  time  or  money !    Then 

suddenly  he  smiled.  The  thought  of  Ned  Blackborough  's 
hidden  hundred  pounds  came  to  him  as  it  had  come  more 
than  once  during  the  last  few  months.  Here  was  a  case 
for  it,  only  unfortunately  he  had  not  the  time  for  private 
work.  Still  it  was  odd  what  a  backing  that  hundred 
pounds  had  been  to  all  sorts  of  day-dreams.  Why  it 
should  be  so,  was  a  psychological  problem;  since  after 
all,  it  was  but  a  paltry  sum,  and,  in  all  probability,  it  no 
longer  existed  for  him ;  for  there  had  been  distinct  greed 
on  at  least  two  of  the  faces  which  had  watched  its  con- 
cealment. It  had,  no  doubt,  been  appropriated  long  ago. 
So  the  boy  must  go  out,  comfortably  fitted  with  regula- 
tion crutches,  to  live,  possibly,  two  or  three  years  at  the 
outside.    And  yet 

He  bent  regretfully,  tracing  the  twist  of  the  body  be- 


128  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

neath  the  bed-clothes,  then  looked  up  at  the  lingering 
of  a  passing  footstep. 

' '  Good  evening,  Mrs.  Tressilian.  I  beg  your  pardon, 
Nurse  Helen — I  am  always  forgetting." 

' '  Because  you  will  not  remember, ' '  she  replied  with  a 
smile.  Then  her  eyes  grew  soft ;  she  bent  over  the  bed 
in  her  turn;  "  Can  nothing  really  be  done  for  him, 
doctor  ?    He  is  so  very  patient. ' ' 

There  was  something  about  this  woman,  Peter  Ramsay 
felt,  which  took  him  away,  as  it  were,  into  a  desert  place 
apart  with  nothing  in  it  save  himself,  truth,  and  a 
listener.  He  had  felt  it  from  the  moment  he  had  first 
seen  her;  and  he  had  told  her  the  truth  even  then.  It 
was  another  curious  psycho-physiological  problem  which 
evaded  dissection  and  analysis;  so  he  had  evaded  her, 
ever  since — carrying  out  her  promise  to  herself — she  had 
appeared  as  a  nurse  in  the  hospital  now  nearly  five 
months  ago.    But  the  spell  remained. 

"  Nothing,"  he  replied,  half -speaking  to  himself,  and 
following  up  his  own  train  of  thought ;  ' '  Nothing  at  least 
that  will  be  done — and  it  would  be  but  an  off  chance 
anyhow. ' ' 

She  caught  him  up  swiftly.  "  Then  there  is  a 
chance?  " 

Peter  Ramsay's  face  became  a  study  in  cynical  reserve ; 
he  turned  away.  "  My  dear  lady,"  he  said,  "  haven't 
you  been  a  nurse  long  enough  to  know  a  doctor's  con- 
venient formula,  '  While  there's  life,  there's  hope.'  " 

To  his  annoyance  as  he  moved  on  to  the  door,  she 
moved  also.  "  I  am  off  duty,"  she  remarked,  as  if  she 
had  not  appreciated  his  slamming  of  the  door  in  her  face, 
"  so  it  is  no  breach  of  rules  to  tell  you  that  I  have  had  a 
letter  from  Ned  Blackborough.  He  is  coming  back  from 
the  Mountains  of  the  Moon — that  was  about  his  last 
address,  I  believe — but  his  arm  is  still  troublesome.  I 
should  like  to  show  you  what  he  says. ' ' 

They  were  in  the  vestibule  now,  and  Dr.  Ramsay 
paused.  He  rather  admired  her  pertinacity,  and  matched 
her  coolness  with  his  own. 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  129 

"  Certainly.  May  I  come  in  now — or  stay!  You  will 
want  to  go  out,  I  expect.  Will  you  look  in  at  my  diggings 
after  dinner?  I  might  be  able  to  give  you  a  cup  of 
coffee,  if  you  will  ?  ' ' 

"  I  have  no  doubt  the  matron  will  allow  me,"  she 
laughed.    "  Good-bye  for  the  present,  Dr.  Ramsay." 

As  he  sat  waiting  for  her  in  a  room  which  beggared 
description  by  its  untidiness,  he  felt  distinctly  nervous ; 
but  he  was  becoming  accustomed  to  the  fact  that  she 
had  a  disturbing  or  rather  an  exhilarating  effect  on  his 
nerves.  He  was  a  trifle  irritated  at  the  fact,  a  trifle 
irritated  with  her  because  she  had  fulfilled  his  pre- 
dictions. 

She  was  quite  normal,  and  she  made  an  excellent 
nurse.  He  had  had  to  admit  so  much.  But  it  was  not 
her  natural  metier — that  was — something  very  different. 

Possibly  he  was  right.  At  any  rate  Helen,  entering 
the  room,  stood  absolutely  aghast  at  its  utter  lack  of 
comfort.  She  had  been  learning  much  about  Peter  Ram- 
say of  which  she  had  had  no  idea,  when  she  came  into 
touch  with  him  in  the  hospital.  To  begin  with,  he  was 
much  younger  than  she  had  guessed  him.  She  doubted  if 
he  was  much  older,  perhaps  not  quite  as  old  as  she  was 
herself.  Clever  as  he  was,  he  had  most  of  the  doctor's 
battle  for  name  and  fame  before  him ;  and  there  was  a 
carelessness  of  public  opinion,  a  certain  roughness  of 
very  solid  truth  about  him,  joined  to  an  utter  disregard 
of  his  own  comfort  or  that  of  any  one  else,  except  a 
patient's,  which  made  her  feel  that  here  was  a  man  who, 
above  most  men,  needed  a  strong,  capable,  tactful  woman 
to  look  after  him  privately,  if  he  was  to  succeed  publicly. 

And,  though  the  sick  adored  him,  and  every  one  ad- 
mitted his  skill,  he  was  not  one  of  those  men  who  appeal 
to  the  world  at  large.  He  was  too  swift,  too  incisive.  No 
young  woman  would  darn  his  stockings  because  he  was 
a  dear ;  the  very  maid-servants  could  leave  his  room  like 
this ! 

"  I  don't  expect  it's  good,"  he  said  ruefully,  pouring 
her  out  a  cup  of  coffee,  "  but  I'm  not  up  to  these  things. 


130  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

My  mother  spoilt  me.  She  died  three  years  ago.  She 
was  a  widow,  and  I  was  her  only  son. ' ' 

Helen,  sipping  at  her  coffee,  told  herself  that  explained 
a  good  deal.  He  was  capable  enough  professionally,  but 
— the  coffee  was  execrable ! 

"  It  isn't  very  nice,"  she  admitted,  "  and  why  doesn't 
the  housemaid ' ' 

"Oh!  I  can't  have  my  things  touched,"  he  inter- 
rupted with  a  frown;  adding  as  if  to  change  an  unwel- 
come subject,  "  So  the  arm  is  stiff.  I'm  sorry.  We  shall 
have  to  try  electricity.    There's  a  place  in  London " 

He  was  off  on  some  new  cure,  his  red  bronze  eyes 
shining,  his  whole  bearing  full  of  confidence  and 
vitality.  She  waited  till  the  subject  was  exhausted,  and 
then  put  down  her  cup,  fixing  her  eyes  humorously  on 
his  face. 

"And  now,  please,  about  that  boy — No.  36  in  the 
Queen's  ward — I  came  to  speak  of  him,  you  know." 

Peter  Ramsay  faced  her  half  angrily ;  then  he  smiled. 
"  Of  course  I  knew,  though  I  don't  see  why  you  wish 
to  find  out  my  opinion." 

"Possibly  because  I  have  an  idea  that  your  opinion 
may  be  right, ' '  she  replied  coolly.  ' '  What  is  it  you  wish 
to  do?     Something  quite  new,  I  expect." 

He  frowned.  ' '  There  you  are  mistaken.  It — or  some- 
thing like  it — has  been  done  at  Vienna." 

"  By  Pagenheim?  " 

"  What  do  you  know  of  Pagenheim?  I  beg  your  par- 
don! I  was  forgetting  that  women  know  everything 
nowadays.  Yes,  Mrs.  Tressilian,  by  Pagenheim.  He  was 
my  master." 

She  knew  that ;  knew  also  that  the  great  surgeon  had 
sent  him  back  to  England  as  his  best  pupil. 

"  Well,"  she  said  after  a  time,  "  If  you  won't  tell  me 
I  will  order  the  Wiener  Hospital  Blatt;  I  shall  see  all 
about  it  there  I  suppose." 

This  time  he  laughed  out  loud.  "  You  are  very  per- 
sistent, so  I  will  save  you  the  trouble  of  finding  out  in 
which  number  it  is  reported." 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  131 

When  he  had  finished,  she  sat  looking  at  him  for  a 
moment,  feeling  a  sudden  motherly  desire  to  help  this 
curiously  capable,  curiously  inept  man,  whose  strong 
white  surgeon's  hands  showed  themselves  firmly  gripping 
each  other  beyond  frail,  frayed  wristbands. 

' '  But  surely  if  you  hold  that  there  is  a  chance  of  life 
for  him "  she  began. 

He  rose,  and  resting  his  arm  on  the  mantelpiece, 
looked  down  on  her  mentally  and  physically. 

' '  Life !  "  he  echoed.  ' '  What  is  life  worth  to  him  1  and 
how  do  you  know  that  what  we  call  death  ends  it  ?  Mind 
you,  I'm  not  speaking  from  my  own  beliefs — they  are — 
well!  not  much!  Belief  is  positive— I'm  not.  But  you, 
Mrs.  Tressilian.  Why  do  you  and  your  sort  hold  this 
life  so  dear,  and  why  are  you  all  at  the  same  time  in  such 
a  blessed  hurry  to  get  another  hour  or  two  of  it  in  which 
to  do  something  when  you  believe  in  a  fuller,  better  life 
beyond  death?  It  isn't  logical.  My  mother  used  to  say 
that  when  she  taught  me,  a  three-year-old,  about  Cain 
and  Abel,  I  refused  to  give  blame  to  the  former  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  only  sent  Abel  to  heaven.  That 
should  be  your  position. ' ' 

4 'And  yours?  " 

1 '  Oh !  mine  is  simple.  To  a  doctor  life  is  merely  the 
converse  of  death,  and  death  is  the  devil!  We  cannot 
prescribe  for  a  corpse — or  for  the  matter  of  that  levy  a 
fee  for  so  doing — and  that  is  the  end  and  aim  of  doc- 
toring.' ' 

"  Why  should  you  say  those  things,  Dr.  Ramsay? 
she  asked  quietly.    ' '  You  know  you  never  take  one — at 
least  you  would  take  none  from  me." 

He  flushed  slightly.  "  Because  I  did  nothing— and 
you  were  an  interesting  case.  I  levy  a  big  fee  of  experi- 
ence,  Mrs.    Tressilian.     But   concerning   this  boy— my 

colleagues  are  against  me,  and "    He  shrugged  his 

shoulders.  "  I  don't  think  the  world  will  come  to  an 
end  if  No.  36  goes  out  of  it.  I  shouldn't  mind  if  it  did— 
it  isn't  worth  much." 

' '  But  are  you  not  bound  %  "  she  persisted.    ' '  You  have 


132  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

no  right  to  judge  what  his  life  might  be.  A  doctor 's  duty 
is  to  save  life  and  defy  death  at  all  costs." 

His  face  softened  immensely. 

1 '  You  have  got  it  quite  pat,  Mrs.  Tressilian.  That  is 
my  duty  undoubtedly ;  but — but  I  can 't  afford  to  do  it — 
as  yet — and  after  all,  there  is  plenty  of  time — we  have 
a  few  centuries  of  evolution  before  us  yet. ' ' 

"  But  you — you  yourself?  "  she  asked,  scanning  his 
face  eagerly. 

"  I,"  he  answered.  "  I  am  a  temporary  aggregation 
of  molecules,  or,  let  us  say,  electrons.  By  and  by  we 
shall  find  another  word  to  express  the  infinitely  little — or 
the  infinitely  great " 

Here  a  shrill  whistle  from  the  speaking-tube  made 
Helen  start  and  Peter  Eamsay  smile.  "  That,  I'll  bet, 
will  be  the  infinitely  little. ' '  He  leant  over  to  listen,  and 
his  face  hardened.  "  I  must  go — an  old  man,  apparently 
in  a  fit,  brought  in  from  the  street.  Good-bye,  Mrs.  Tres- 
silian.    I'll  try  and  save  his  life  anyhow." 

She  lingered  on  in  the  room  for  a  while  after  he  had 
left  it,  laying  an  orderly  hand  almost  unconsciously  here 
and  there,  and  feeling  that,  had  she  dared,  she  would 
like  to  have  gone  into  his  bedroom  beyond,  and  seen  if 
there  were  any  buttons  on  the  back  of  his  shirts.  She 
remembered  having  heard  him  ask  the  matron  for  the 
loan  of  a  safety-pin ;  that  looked  ominous. 

He,  meanwhile,  going  hastily  into  the  surgery,  saw  a 
white-haired  figure  lying  flat  on  the  table,  and,  having 
the  gift  of  swift  diagnosis,  called  as  he  entered, 

"  Prop  him  up,  please — and — dresser — amyl,  sharp." 

Held  back  thus  by  swift  help  from  sinking  down  to 
perfect  rest,  the  weary  heart  rallied,  and  after  a  time  the 
old  man's  set  face  wavered,  he  opened  his  large,  pale-blue 
eyes,  and  looked  about  him. 

Then  the  doctor  looked  about  him  also.  ' '  Hullo !  Crut- 
tenden, ' '  he  said,  ' '  you  here  ?  ' ' 

1 '  I  brought  him  in, ' '  replied  Ted  Cruttenden ;  "  he 
was  speaking  to  some  work-people  in  the  street  when  he 
collapsed. ' ' 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  133 

"  If  you  know  his  friends,  you  had  better  send  for 
them  to  take  him  home — he  ought  not  to  go  alone. ' ' 

The  patient  was  by  this  time  able  to  smile.  Lying 
back  on  the  pillow,  he  looked  extraordinarily  frail  and 
refined,  and  his  voice,  urbane  to  a  degree,  matched  his 
appearance. 

' '  Friends !  ' '  he  echoed.  ' '  I  have  none.  I  left  friend- 
ship behind  me — with  other  things — years  ago." 

"  Then,  if  you  know  no  one,  you'd  better  stop  here,', 
suggested  Peter  Ramsay  brusquely. 

"  I  said  nothing  of  knowledge,  sir,"  replied  the  old 
man;  "  I  know  many,  and  every  one  knows  me.  I  am 
Sylvanus  Smith." 

Dr.  Ramsay  glanced  swiftly  at  Ted  Cruttenden,  as  if 
to  refresh  a  casual  memory.  "  Sylvanus  Smith,"  he 
echoed.  ' '  Oh  yes !  I  remember.  Then  you  live  near 
Dinas,  and  have  a  beautiful  granddaughter — and — and 
you  know  Cruttenden  ?  ' ' 

Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  sat  up,  and  flushed  a  delicate  pink. 
"  Excuse  me;  neither  of  those  qualifications  have  any 
bearing  on  the  question.  I  am  President  of  the  Social 
Congress,  and  I  do  happen  to  have  a  slight  acquaintance 
with  this  gentleman.  I  have  to  thank  you,  sir.  I  saw  you 
amongst  my  audience,  and  I  presume " 

"  Not  at  all— not  at  all,"  interrupted  Ted.  "  If  you 
like,  Dr.  Ramsay,  I  will  see  him  home. ' ' 

As  he  said  the  words,  he  knew  that  here  was  a  stroke 
of  luck.  Without  in  any  way  infringing  on  his  compact 
with  Ned  Blackborough,  here  was  an  opportunity  of  in- 
gratiating himself  with  Aura's  legal  guardian.  He  would 
be  a  fool  not  to  take  it,  a  fool  not  to  make  the  very  most 
of  it. 

And  yet  when,  a  whole  week  afterwards,  the  old  man, 
leaning  out  of  the  through  carriage  to  Wales,  in  which 
Ted  had  placed  him  duly  fortified  with  papers  and  egg 
sandwiches,  shook  him  warmly  by  the  hand,  saying, 
"  Then  you  will  come  to  Cwmfairnog  at  Christmas." 
The  words  brought  a  distinct  feeling  of  meanness  to  the 
hearer.     Ned  Blackborough  would  have  to  go  alone  to 


134  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

the  inn.  That  was  not  what  had  been  intended ;  but  then 
the  whole  business  was  absurd.  He  had  a  great  mind  to 
back  out  of  it  altogether.  And  here  the  swift  thought 
came,  that  from  what  he  had  seen  of  Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith, 
a  lordling  would  have  scantier  grace  than  a  commoner; 
so  that  it  might  be  as  well  if  Ned 

A  twinge  of  remorse  had  to  be  stilled  by  the  recollec- 
tion that  everything  was  fair  in  love  and  war,  and  by 
heaven — no  one  could  love  Aura  better  than  he  did.  No ! 
no  one! 

Of  course,  he  would  have  been  a  fool  not  to  take  the 
luck  sent  him,  and  he  was  a  still  greater  fool  to  feel  that 
there  was  in  it  any  stealing  of  a  march  on  Ned  Black- 
borough. 

What  would  Hirsch  say?  For,  ever  since  he  had 
given  himself  up  soul  and  body  to  that  great  man,  he  had 
formed  a  habit  of  referring  to  him  as  his  standard  of 
conduct.  The  result  here  was  that  Ted  positively  blushed 
at  his  own  scruples. 

No,  if — there  was  any  unpleasantness — it  would  be 
better  to  end  the  compact,  and  let  them  each  do  their  best 
on  their  own  footing. 

His  was  very  different  to  what  it  had  been  five  months 
ago.  There  was  nothing  now  to  prevent  his  being  as  rich 
as  Ned  Blackborough ;  or,  in  the  future,  having  such  a 
title  as  his.  For  at  bottom,  all  things  were  a  question  of 
money.  That  he  had  learnt  from  Mr.  Hirsch.  A  quick 
wave  of  eager  ambition  sent  the  young  blood  tingling 
to  the  finger-tips.  He  felt  glad  he  might  have  to  fight 
fair  for  the  girl  he  loved.  Besides,  it  would  be  so  much 
fairer  on  her.  She  ought  not  to  be  deceived.  This  highly 
moral  thought  brought  with  it  such  a  sense  of  conscious 
virtue  as  sent  him  back  to  his  office  thinking  deliberately 
how  Hirsch  would  admire  Aura  when  he  saw  her — in 
pink  satin  and  diamonds  of  course. 


CHAPTER    XII 

Ned  Blackborough  had  been  to  the  Mountains  of  the 
Moon;  at  least  so  he  told  his  cousin  when  he  drove  her 
out  from  the  hospital  to  New  Park  the  very  day  of  his 
arrival  at  home. 

"  Call  it  the  Mountains  of  the  Moon,  my  dear,"  he 
had  said,  "  it  sounds  definite  and  may  mean  so  much — 
or  so  little. ' ' 

This  was  about  a  week  before  Christmas.  It  gave 
promise  of  being  a  hard  one,  for  a  slight  sprinkling,  more 
of  frost  than  snow,  lay  on  the  roads,  and  the  horses ' 
roughened  hoofs  echoed  cheerfully  through  the  keen  air. 
It  was  exhilarating,  Helen  felt,  after  those  long  months 
at  the  hospital  broken  only  by  dull  constitutionals.  She 
had  begun  these  by  setting  her  face  always  to  the  coun- 
try ;  but  after  a  time  the  long  rows  of  workmen 's  houses, 
the  dreary  muddiness  of  gravel  side-walkings,  the  in- 
tolerable admixture  of  bricks  and  bakers'  carts  had  driven 
her  back  to  wander  aimlessly  through  crowded  streets. 
There  she  could  at  any  rate  see  civilisation,  pure  and 
undefiled  by  attempts  after  the  Garden  of  Eden ! 

So  this  was  joy.  The  hedgerows  were  black  with  un- 
utterable soot,  the  sky  was  grey  with  smoke,  but  the  birds 
were  twittering  among  the  smutty  hips  and  haws,  and 
overhead  a  flight  of  cawing  rooks  made  the  grey  seem 
light  by  their  blackness. 

She  looked  round  for  sympathy  to  Ned,  and  was  struck 
by  his  face. 

"  You're  looking  awfully  well,  Ned,"  she  remarked; 
"  What  have  you  been  doing  to  yourself?  You  look  a 
perfect  boy." 

He  laughed. 

135 


136  4   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

' '  Having  a  good  time.  I  found  an  old  man — but  that 
passes.  Meanwhile  I  expect  I  shall  require  some  healthful 
calm.  My  manager  tells  me  the  business  has  been  going 
to  pot  since  I've  been  away.  I  shall  have  to  interfere 
myself,  I  expect,  but  that  won't  be  till  after  Christmas. 
How 's  Ramsay  getting  on  ?  ' ' 

Helen  looked  a  trifle  stiff.  "  You  had  better  ask  him 
yourself,  you  will  see  him  when  you  drive  me  back ;  I  only 
know  that  he  has  resigned  his  appointment." 

"  So  he  wrote  me.  Had  a  row  apparently  with  the 
Governing  Body — that  was  ill  advised. ' ' 

' '  Very, ' '  said  Helen  coolly, ' '  but  then  Dr.  Ramsay  has 
no  tact,  and  is  a  very  obstinate  person.  Is  that  New 
Park  ?    You  know  I  have  never  been  here  before. ' ' 

Ned  Blackborough  shot  a  faintly  amused  glance  at  her. 
' '  It  is  New  Park.  Did  you  ever  see  an  inheritance  more 
calculated  to  make  a  man  cut  his  throat  ?  ' ' 

It  was  indeed  unexpressibly  dreary  in  its  long  pompous 
facade  of  regularly  recessed  windows,  each  with  its  sham 
pilasters  and  heavy  entablature. 

"  It  always  seems  as  if  it  had  a  sick  headache,  and  it 
gives  me  one  to  look  at  it.  It's  a  fact,"  added  Ned,  as 
Helen  laughed.  "It  is  positively  more  hideous  than — 
than  the  Sea  View  Hotel.  I  hear,  by  the  way,  they  have 
rebuilt  that.  Have  you  heard  anything  more  of  Hirsch 
since  then?  " 

Helen  gave  a  fine  flush.  "  He  comes  down  to  Black- 
borough  on  business.  And  I  have  seen  him.  He  is  really 
frightfully  distressed  because  I  will  not  let  him  pay  back 
that  money.    Last  time  he  nearly  wept. ' ' 

"  He  wept  because  he  could  not  understand,"  para- 
phrased Ned.  "It  is  not  his  fault.  It  is  astonishing 
how  little  sense  of  abstract  justice  and  fairness  people 
have  as  a  rule.  They're  so  set  on  mercy  and  loving- 
kindness  that  they  forget  the  eye-for-an-eye,  the  tooth- 
for-a-tooth  ideal.  Well,  here  we  are.  The  house  is  not 
quite  so  bad  inside,  but  it  is  pretty  awful." 

It  was,  though  it  had  been  built  and  upholstered  to 
order  regardless  of  cost.    Still  there  was  a  certain  com- 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  137 

fort  in  the  dull  red  flock  of  its  walls,  the  dull  red  fleece 
of  its  floors,  and  when  once  you  reached  it,  the  fire  lit  up 
the  marvellous  expanse  of  priceless  tiles,  and  steel,  and 
ormulu,  and  bronze,  cheerfully  enough. 

"  Don't  try  and  sit  on  any  of  those  chairs,"  said  Ned, 
"  they're  screwed  to  their  places,  I  believe.  Here's  a 
basket  one  of  mine ;  and  will  you  pour  out  tea  1  ' : 

Yet  it  was  pleasant  enough  sitting  there  by  the  fire  in 
the  growing  dusk,  and  Ned's  heart  gave  a  great  throb  as 
he  thought  of  Aura  in  her  blue  smock  walking  uncon- 
cernedly over  the  priceless  pile  carpets  as  if  they  had 
been  Kidderminster.  And  she  would  be  right.  When 
she  was  there  all  other  things  sank  into  insignificance. 

"  It's  terribly  big,"  said  Helen.  "  You  ought  to  mar- 
ry, Ned." 

"  I  suppose  I  ought,"  he  replied  solemnly,  but  his 
thoughts  were  simply  running  riot  over  the  suggestion; 
"  it  is  too  big  for  one." 

And  then  he  saw  a  vision  of  a  blue  smock  held  con- 
fidingly by  a  little  toddling  child,  and  something  in  him 
seemed  to  rise  up  and  choke  him,  so  that  he  had  to  get 
up,  and  walk  away  from  his  cousin's  curious  eyes.  So 
to  change  the  subject  he  began  hurriedly — 

"  I  didn't  tell  you,  did  I,  about  that  old  man  I  met 
in  the  desert — right  away  from  everybody?  I  don't  be- 
lieve he  was  real,  but  he  was  a  wonder.  If  you  talked 
Herbert  Spencer  with  him  he  replied  with  Nietzsche. 
There  wasn't  anything  he  didn't  seem  to  know,  and  that 
he  hadn't  dismissed  as  not  worth  knowing.  And  yet 
he  knew  nothing.  If  you  hurled  an  example  at  him 
he  was  floored.  It  was  all  pure  thought.  He  never  did 
anything  else  but  think.  You  see  he  was  one  of  their 
holiest  men,  and  he  had  sat  in  the  same  place  for  fifty 
years. ' ' 

"You  have  been  back  to  India,  Ned,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  you  know  you  have;  and  I  sent  all  my  letters  to  Al- 
giers. ' ' 

He  came  over  to  her  and  sat  on  the  arm  of  her  chair, 
as  he  used  to  do  when  he  was  a  boy. 


138  A.    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

"  They  were  forwarded — at  intervals,"  he  remarked 
coolly.  "  Have  you  never,  Nell,  wanted  to  run  away 
for  a  bit  and  find  yourself  naked,  out  in  the  open?  " 
And  then,  airily,  he  began  to  hum  that  graceless  ditty  of 
young  subalterns  at  Pekin  when  the  Embassy  had  been 
relieved  and  the  Summer  Palace  occupied,  and  the  allied 
army  amused  itself  with  burlesques  on  the  vanished  foe : 

"  ?  Fancy  me,  in  this  frosty  weather, 
Posing  as  Venus  among  the  heather, 
Fancy  me  in  the  altogether, 
At  my  time  of  life!'" 

"  Really,  Ned!  "  exclaimed  Helen,  unable  to  repress 
her  smiles,  "  You  are  the  most  ridiculous  boy.  But  if 
I  am  to  see  the  domain  it  is  time  I  began.  I  must  be 
back  by  five  o  'clock. " 

They  were  but  just  in  time  when  he  set  her  down  at 
the  hospital  and  sought  out  Dr.  Ramsay. 

He  found  him  writing  for  dear  life,  his  face  positively 
aglow  with  vitality  and  fire. 

' '  Smashing  'em  up  ?  "  asked  Ned,  after  the  first  wel- 
come was  over  and  he  had  lit  a  cigarette. 

Peter  Ramsay  shifted  the  papers  a  trifle  shamefacedly. 
' l  Yes !  "  he  replied ;  "  it  isn  't  a  bit  of  good,  of  course ; 
but  it  relieves  my  feelings  and  hurts  theirs. ' ' 

' '  How  did  it  come  about  ?  ' ' 

"  Didn't  Mrs.  Tressilian  tell  you?  Well,  I  suppose 
I  have  been  a  bit  of  a  fool — and  yet,  I  don't  see  quite 
what  else  I  could  have  done.  I  tell  you,  Blackborough, 
there  isn't  a  spot  in  England  on  which  you  can  tread 
firmly  without  crushing  a  vested  interest.  Take,  for 
instance,  that  pint  of  beer  business.  I  suppose  you  know 
that  every  one  in  this  hospital  is  entitled  to  one  pint  of 
beer  a  day — typhoid  fever  patients,  dying  patients — the 
whole  stock,  lock,  and  barrel  of  nurses,  doctors,  porters, 
and  such  like.  If  the  beer  isn't  drunk  it's  at  any  rate 
paid  for.  Think  of  the  vested  interests  that  means.  So 
when  I  suggested  retrenchments,  and  took  the  trouble  to 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  139 

lay  the  German  and  even  the  Scotch  figures  before  the 
governors — it  costs  a  third  less  at  least  to  run  a  patient 
in  Scotland — there  was  the  devil  and  all  to  pay ;  and — 
and  some  one  made  disparaging  remarks  about  porridge, 
and  so,  of  course,  there  was  a  row.  ..." 

"  Then  about  the  operation."  Peter  Ramsay  got  up 
and  began  to  walk  about  the  room,  and  his  voice  became 
more  argumentative.  "  You  see,  it  was  done,  and  the 
man  died.  Well,  I  wrote  an  account  of  it  for  the  medical 
paper  at  Vienna,  and  some  one  got  hold  of  it  and  trans- 
lated it — well !  not  quite  fairly.  You  see,  it  was  a  ques- 
tion whether  a  certain  lesion — but  that's  a  technical  de- 
tail— I  hadn't  approved  at  the  time,  and  I  said  so;  and 
they  made  out  I  asserted  the  man  had  been  killed  through 
incompetence.  All  I  meant  was  that  it  wasn't  a  fair 
test  of  the  feasibility  of  the  operation,  and  it  wasn't.  I 
tried  to  smooth  them  over,  but,  as  I  said  at  the  time,  one 
must  tell  the  truth  sometimes. ' ' 

Ned  Blackborough  interrupted  with  a  sudden  laugh. 
' '  Did  that  smooth  them  over  ?  " 

"  Not  in  the  least,"  replied  Peter  Ramsay  quite-  seri- 
ously, "  and  they  wouldn't  have  it  either  that  the  trans- 
lator was  a  fool  and  did  not  know  German.  So  I  re- 
signed. There  is  never  any  good  in  trying  to  work  with 
people  who  aren't  satisfied." 

"  None,"  assented  Ned  succinctly,  " And  what  are  you 
going  to  do  ?  " 

1  *  Go  back  to  Pagenheim  if  nothing  else  turns  up.  One 
can  live  on  iviirst  over  there  and  no  one  thinks  the 
— the  worse  of  you,  as  they  do  here.  My  time  isn't 
up  till  February,  but  I've  offered  to  go  at  once  if  they 
like." 

"  New  Park  is  at  your  disposal." 

"  You're  awfully  kind.  If  I  go — perhaps.  But  some- 
thing may  crop  up." 

As  Ned  Blackborough  drove  round  to  keep  his  ap- 
pointment with  Ted  Cruttenden  at  his  office,  he  told 
himself  joyously  that  anything  might  crop  up.  These 
next  few  weeks  had  been  to  him  for  long  so  full  of  pos- 


140  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

abilities,  that  the  whole  world  seemed  to  him  capable 
of  launching  out  into  incredible  action,  of  kicking  over 
the  traces  even  of  conventional  chance. 

His  greeting  of  Ted  Cruttenden  rather  took  the  latter 
aback,  for  he  had  been  carefully  preparing  for  the 
interview. 

' '  How  are  you  ?  Will  the  11.50  suit  you  on  the  24th  ?— 
it  suits  me. ' ' 

Ted  coughed  and  looked  a  little  embarrassed,  for  the 
inward  conviction  that,  to  be  quite  fair,  the  invitation  to 
Cwmfairnog  ought  not  to  have  been  accepted  came  back 
with  the  first  glance  at  Ned 's — at  his  friend 's  face.  Still 
it  was  no  use  shirking  the  subject,  so  he  buckled  himself 
up  for  his  task. 

"  It  will  suit  all  right,"  he  replied  boldly,  "  You  had 
better  write  for  a  room  at  the  inn.  I — I  am  going  to 
Cwmfairnog. " 

1 '  Cwmfairnog  ?  ' '  echoed  Ned  incredulously. 

"Yes  —  I'm  going  to  stay  with  —  with  Sylvanus 
Smith."  For  all  his  boldness  he  had  hesitated,  and  Ned 
Blackborough  fastened  on  the  pause. 

"  Why  didn't  you  say  with  Aura?  "  There  was  a 
trace  of  scorn  in  his  voice,  which  Ted  resented  hotly. 

"  Because  the  old  man  asked  me  when  he  came  up 
here.  I  know  it  doesn't  sound  quite  fair,  Lord  Black- 
borough,  but  one  can't  help  luck.  He  felt  ill,  and  I 
happened  to  be  there,  and  I  had  to  look  after  him.  Then 
he  asked  me  to  come  and  stop;  and  so  of  course  I  ac- 
cepted. You  would  have  done  the  same  if  you  had 
been  me." 

Ned  Blackborough  was  silent  for  a  moment ;  then  said, 
"  Perhaps." 

"Oh!  hang  it  all!  "  broke  in  Ted.  "  If  you  are  not 
satisfied,  you  needn't  feel  bound  in  any  way.  In  fact, 
I  have  been  thinking  a  lot,  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  your  plan  isn't  quite  fair  on  her.  I  think  she 
ought  to  know;  and  I'd  much  rather  she  had  her  fair 
choice.  You  see,  neither  she  nor  her  grandfather  really 
care  for  money. ' ' 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  141 

Ned  Blackborough  smiled.  "  I  see,"  lie  said  grimly. 
"  On  the  whole,  I  believe  you  are  right."  Then  he 
thought  for  a  moment  or  two.  "  So  be  it!  Each  for 
himself,  and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost!  But  we  will 
stick  to  time  and  place.  And  if  you  want  a  day  or  two 's 
extra  leave  I " 

Ted  blushed  a  little  this  time.  "  I — I— am  not  em- 
ployed by  the  firm  any  longer,  Lord  Blackborough, ' '  he 
said  hurriedly;  "  You  have  been  away — besides,  a  clerk 
on  a  hundred  and  fifty  would  hardly  come  to  your  ears. 
But  the  fact  is  that — that  Mr.  Hirsch  offered  me  three 
hundred. ' y 

Ned  Blackborough 's  face  took  on  an  expression  of 
amusement.  ' '  I  begin  to  understand.  So  you  are  on  the 
high  road  to  opulence !  Now  I  wonder  why  he  did  that  ? 
— you  shall  tell  me  in  the  train — 11.50 — for  I  must  be 
off,  as  I  Ve  some  business  to  get  through  before  closing- 
time." 

The  business  appeared  to  amuse  him  also,  for  the  ex- 
pression did  not  fade  from  his  face  as  he  drove  to  the 
Public  Library,  hunted  up  a  book  on  Wales,  then  drove 
to  a  house-agent 's  and  gave  an  order,  and  finally  stopped 
at  those  general  entrepreneurs,  Williams  and  Edwards, 
and  gave  another.  Myfanwy  Jones,  catching  sight  of 
him  on  his  way  to  the  senior  partner 's  office,  volunteered 
a  remark  to  the  buyer  in  her  department  that  she  knew 
that  fellow,  had  seen  him  down  at  her  father's,  and  was 
crushed  by  the  reply :  ' '  Him !  Why,  he  is  Lord  Black- 
borough— the  richest  peer  in  England." 

She  brazened  it  out  by  saying  "  Get  along  ";  but  as 
a  matter  of  fact  Ned  was  repeating  much  the  same  in- 
formation in  the  office.  uIam  Lord  Blackborough,"  he 
was  saying,  "  you  need  spare  no  expense.  Only  see  that 
everything  is  well  done." 

The  words  had  a  marvellous  dynamic  power,  setting 
telegraphic  wires  and  express  vans  and  confidential 
clerks  in  motion.  The  result  being  that  when  Ned  and 
Ted,  who  had  travelled  down  third  class  together  in 
very  friendly  fashion  got  out  at  the  station  nearest  to 


142  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

Dinas  there  were  two  very  smart  motors  cars  awaiting 
them. 

"  If  you  will  excuse  me  for  a  moment,"  said  Lord 
Blackborough  to  his  companion, ' '  I  '11  just  see  my  cousin, 
Mrs.  Tressilian — you  remember  her  of  course — off  for 
Plas  Afon.  I've  taken  it  for  three  weeks  and  Ramsay 
and  some  other  people  are  coming  down,  so  we  ought  to 
have  a  good  time.  Then  I  can  take  you  round  in  the 
Panhard  to  Cwmfairnog.  It  will  only  make  a  difference 
of  a  mile  or  two,  for  Plas  Afon,  is  just  the  other  side  of 
Dinas,  you  know. ' ' 

Ted  waiting  on  the  platform  while  Helen,  another  lady, 
and  a  maid  were  stowed  away  in  the  covered  car,  began 
to  realise  that  Ned  was  not  going  to  forgo  a  single  ad- 
vantage. It  was  to  be  check  and  counter-check  on  both 
sides.  It  had  been  quick  work,  and  to  get  hold  of  Plas 
Afon — the  show  place  of  the  neighbourhood — must  have 
needed  money  indeed !  Some  day  he  would  be  able  to  do 
that  sort  of  thing  if  he  chose.  But  he  would  not  choose. 
He  would  never  be  such  a  reckless  devil  as  Blackborough. 
Tet  he  could  not  help  admiring  the  go  and  fire  of  the 
fellow ! 

"  So  you  are  going  to  play  the  prince  over  me,"  he 
said  when  they  had  settled  comfortably  down  under  a 
priceless  fox-skin  rug  and  Ned  was  sending  the  motor 
up  the  hill  full  speed. 

Lord  Blackborough  laughed.  ' '  Not  at  all !  I  had  to 
check  your  move  somehow.  I  couldn't  go — as  you  go — 
to  Mahomet,  so  I  had  to  try  and  induce  Mahomet  to 
come  to  me.  You  will  decline  my  invitations,  no  doubt, 
but  I  shall  have  done  my  best.  Personally,"  he  added. 
1 '  I  would  much  rather  have  stuck  to  the  old  plan.  Any- 
how we  won't  defile  Cwmfairnog  with  the  smell  of  petrol. 
We'll  leave  the  motor  at  the  bridge — you  can  send  for 
your  things  afterwards — and  walk  up.  Ye  Gods !  How 
beautiful  this  country  is  in  winter. ' ' 

It  was,  indeed.  The  hills  lay  so  still,  so  soft  beneath 
the  pale-blue  wintry  sky,  the  distant  ones  greyly  trans- 
parent,   the    near    ones    showing    rounded,    red-brown 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  143 

bracken-covered  lights  against  rounded,  misty,  violet 
shadows.  The  very  frost  rime  on  each  leaf,  each  blade 
of  grass,  looked  soft,  and  the  gold  of  the  slanting  sunlight 
seemed  to  warm  the  very  icicles  which  drooped  from  the 
high  moss-covered,  fern-clad  banks  showing  where  some 
trickle  of  water  dropped  from  the  hillside  above.  But 
it  was  up  the  wooded  ravines  where  the  bare  branches 
of  the  oak  scrub  followed  each  curving  contour  that  the 
ineffable  hues  of  blent  shadows  and  shine  showed  to 
their  fullest.  They  were  valleys  of  perfect  rest,  deep 
blue  in  their  depths,  jasper,  jewelled  with  crystals  on 
their  heights. 

The  footsteps  of  the  two  echoed  sharply  among  the 
rocks.  Their  shadows,  blent  into  one,  preceded  them. 
Yet  the  thought  of  both  went  further  ahead  still.  There 
were  no  flowers  now,  but  the  brambles  dead-green  and 
russet  and  gold,  still  thrust  out  withered  fruit-branches 
across  their  path.  The  leafless  trees  gave  clearer  vision 
now.  They  could  see  across  the  stream.  There  was  the 
garden,  the  lawn,  and  on  it,  by  heaven,  reaching  down 
red  holly-berries  from  an  old  tree  was  a  figure  in  white — 
Aura  herself ! 

Ned  gave  a  view  holloa.  She  turned  round,  waved  one 
hand,  then  dropping  her  berries  waved  both. 

The  thought  of  the  long  round  by  the  rhododendrons 
and  the  drawbridge  was  too  much  for  them.  The  parapet 
was  low,  the  stream  lower  still.  In  a  moment  they  were 
over  it,  and  racing  to  meet  her  like  a  couple  of  schoolboys. 

She  laughed  to  see  them,  holding  out  both  hands. 

"  What  a  hurry  you  are  in,"  she  cried.  "  So  you 
have  both  come.  Grandfather  said  you  wouldn't,  but 
Martha  and  I  thought  it  wiser  to  get  the  two  rooms  ready 
— and  I  was  right !  ' ' 

Her  welcome  disarmed  rivalry,  and  gave  both  the 
young  men  a  desire  to  fall  at  her  feet  and  kiss  the  hem  of 
her  garment.    But  they  repressed  it. 

"  Of  course  we  have  both  come!  "  replied  Ned  im- 
perturbably.  "  Are  we  not  the  inseparable  two-headed, 
four-armed,  four-legged  monster,  Edward  Cruttenden? 


144 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 


don't  interrupt  me,  Ted,  I  am  coming  to  that  by  and  by. 
Only  Miss — Miss — do  you  know  I  don't  happen  to  know 
your  surname.    Is  it  Smith  ?  ' ' 

She  shook  her  head  with  a  smile.  "  Graham— but 
every  one  calls  me  Aura. ' ' 

•'Miss  Aura,"  went  on  Ned  doubtfully. 

She  looked  at  him  and  her  eyes  twinkled. 

"  Put  on  the  H,  please,  if  you  are  going  to  speak  like 
Martha.     Only  it  sounds  better  without  any  prefix." 

For  some  reason  or  other  both  the  young  men  found 
themselves  blushing  and  their  hearts  beating. 

"  Much  nicer,"  assented  Ted  with  fervour;  but  Ned 
made  an  elision. 

' '  I  was  going  to  tell  you  that  in  addition  to  Edward 
Cruttenden  I  have — for  my  sins — to  answer  to  another 
name — Lord  Blackborough. " 

She  stared  and  frowned. 

"  You  mean,"  she  said  slowly,  "  that  as  they  put  it 
in  the  books  you  are  Edward  Cruttenden,  Lord  Black- 
borough?  " 

"  Edward  Cruttenden  Gibbs,  to  be  strictly  according 
to  Debrett,"  he  answered  meekly.  "  I  had  to  take  the 
name  when  I  came  into  the  title  three  years  ago. ' ' 

A  distinct  look  of  disappointment  showed  on  her  face. 
"  It  is  a  very  great  pity,"  she  said  still  more  slowly; 
then  she  added  more  cheerfully.  "  However,  I  suppose 
it  can't  be  helped.  Only  when  I  thought  of  you  it  was 
always  as  Xed  and  Ted."  She  glanced  at  the  latter  and 
smiled. 

"  So  far  as  I  am  concerned  there  is  no  reason  why 
you  shouldn't  continue "  he  began. 

"  No  reason  at  all,"  interrupted  Ned  with  the  first 
note  of  rivalry  in  his  voice.  "  Let  us  remain  Ned  and 
Ted  for — for  this  week  at  any  rate. ' ' 

"  This  week,"  she  echoed,  looking  from  one  to  the 
other,  "  I  don't  quite  understand."  Then  suddenly,  for 
the  first  time  in  her  life  she  blushed.  It  was  extremely 
uncomfortable,  and  she  felt  vaguely  annoyed  with  both 
the  young  men.     So  she  turned  to  them  stiffly.     "  Will 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  145 

you  come  and  see  grandfather  and  have  tea  first,  or  go  to 
your  rooms — you  know  where  they  are. ' ' 

There  was  a  pause,  broken  accusingly  by  Ted.  "  Lord 
Blackborough — I  mean  Ned " 

"  Thank  you,"  put  in  Ned  with  a  laugh,  "  I  can  do 
my  own  dirty  work,  if  you  please.  The  fact  is  " — he 
paused,  still  fighting  shy  of  that  dear  name,  "  I  mean 
I'm  afraid  I  can't  stop.  If  I  had  guessed,  but — but  I 
didn  't !  "  He  shrugged  his  shouders.  ' '  It  is  so  hard  to 
predicate  perfection.  The  fact  is,  my  cousin  is  living  at 
Plas  Afon  for  a  fortnight  or  so,  and  I  must  go  back  to 
her — after  tea." 

"  Plas  Afon,"  she  echoed  eagerly.  "  Oh!  I  hear  that 
is  such  a  lovely  place.  How  lucky  you  are,"  then  the 
personal  aspect  of  the  news  made  her  frown  a  little. 
"  Dear  me!"  she  said,  "  what  a  pity !  It  spoils  so  much. 
Now  I  shall  have  to  differentiate  between  you  two.  Will 
you  come  in  to  tea,  Lord  Blackborough  and  Mr.  Crut- 
tenden. ' ' 

They  followed  her  meekly,  feeling  vaguely  ashamed  of 
themselves. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

"  She  is  as  straight  as  a  yard  o'  pump  water,  an'  won't 
never  brush  forty  again/'  said  Martha  up  to  her  elbows 
in  flour,  austerely,  "but  I  wouldn't  trust  her  for  that 
neither.  No!  Not  with  Bate  comin'  into  his  dinner 
wantin'  comfort.  He  have  a  trick  o'  blushin',  Miss 
H'Aura,  as  sympathy  might  make  a  marryin'  on — an'  I 
won 't  have  it  in  the  'ouse. ' ' 

"  But  I  thought,"  said  Aura  gravely,  for  she  was  ac- 
customed by  now  to  Martha's  view  of  the  new  parlour- 
maid, "  that  Bate  gave  Parkinson  no  encouragement." 

"  Encouragement,"  echoed  Martha  bitterly,  "  no  more 
he  do.  Why!  he  don't  even  wink  at  her.  Give  her  the 
cold  shoulder  constant;  but  there !  she's  o'  that  sort,  Miss 
H'Aura,  as  don't  mind  whether  a  jint's  'ot  or  cold  so 
long  as  it's  man's  meat.  Besides,  master  'ud  need  a 
woman  folk  to  stand  atwixt  him  and  the  fun'ral  if  there 
was  a  smash  in  the  motor,  for  Bate  ain't  no  manner  of 
use  when  there's  tears  about — 'es  got  such  a  feelin'  'eart. 
So,  thanking  'is  lordship  all  the  same  for  the  kind 
thought,  I'd  better  stop  at  We." 

There  was  never  any  questioning  Martha 's  decision ;  so 
Aura  went  back  to  the  drawing-room  doubtfully.  It 
was  a  glorious  day  and  Ned  Blackborough  had  come  over 
half-an-hour  before,  bearing  both  to  herself  and  her 
grandfather  notes  of  invitation  from  Mrs.  Tressilian  to 
come  over  to  lunch  and  see  the  show  place.  The  notes 
had  evidently  been  all  in  order,  for  though  her  grand- 
father had  declined  brusquely  for  himself,  he  had  looked 
at  her  as  if  he  had  just  realised  she  was  no  longer  a 
child,  and  asked  her  wistfully  if  she  would  like  to  go. 
And  she  without  a  thought  had  told  the  truth — namely 

146 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  147 

that  she  would  love  it.  Then  had  come  doubts.  The 
last  three  days,  filled  up  as  they  had  been  by  the  absolute 
adulation  of  the  two  young  men  had  brought  her  a 
curious,  innate,  but  till  then  dormant,  sense  that  there 
were  things  which  girls  ought  not  to  do.  And  having, 
much  against  her  will,  admitted  this  to  herself,  she  be- 
came sternly  scrupulous. 

Ought  she,  or  ought  she  not  to  go  alone  with  Lord 
Blackborough  in  the  motor  ?  She  knitted  her  brows  over 
the  problem,  telling  herself  the  while  that  she  hated  the 
world  and  every  one  in  it.  Then  Lord  Blackborough — he 
had  an  uncomfortable  habit  of  reading  her  thoughts 
which  she  bitterly  resented  —  had  suggested  Martha. 
And  now  Martha  would  not  come.  It  was  all  such  silly 
nonsense ! 

Ned  Blackborough,  watching  her  troubled  face,  felt 
that  he  could  then  and  there  have  put  his  arms  round 
her,  kissed  her  even  against  her  will  and  carried  her 
right  away  from  everything  and  everybody;  from  all 
conventionalities  and  princes  and  powers.  She  was  a  per- 
petual temptation  to  him  to  cast  aside  what  few  moor- 
ings he  had.  He  was  a  man  and  she  the  one  and  only 
woman  in  the  whole  wide  world ;  and  he  wanted  her. 

It  was  a  headlong,  purely  emotional  desire  from  which 
— curiously  enough  it  struck  him — passion  was  almost 
entirely  absent.  In  a  way,  despite  his  greater  reserve, 
there  was  more  of  passion  in  Ted's  rational,  straight- 
forward, more  normal  love. 

The  very  emotionality  of  Ned's  feeling,  however,  car- 
ried with  it  content  and  certainty ;  for  he  felt  that  noth- 
ing in  heaven  or  earth  could  dim  the  halo  of  flame  and 
fire  in  which  he  stood  beside  her. 

So  he  could  afford  to  be  magnanimous.  "  Then  you 
had  better  take  the  fourth  seat,  Ted !  ' '  he  said  carelessly, 
looking  to  where  the  latter,  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  was 
glooming  out  of  the  window  at  the  motor  which  could 
just  be  seen  waiting  through  the  bare  branches  across 
the  drawbridge. 

He  had  already  had  a  casual  invitation  for  himself 


148 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 


and  his  cycle  thrown  at  him,  he  felt,  like  a  bone  to  a 
dog.  But  he  had  refused  it.  Pleasant  work,  indeed, 
riding  in  the  dusty  wake  of  a  rival  who  was  abducting 
the  girl  you  loved  at  the  rate  of  five-and-twenty  miles  an 
hour  in  a  Panhard. 

From  every  point  of  view  he  had  decided  it  would  be 
wiser  to  stop  at  home,  possess  his  soul  in  patience,  and 
keep  Aura's  grandfather  in  a  good  humour.  For  the 
more  he  saw  of  Aura  the  more  he  realised  that  her  choice 
was  likely  to  follow  the  lead  of  her  environment.  He 
was  very  clear-sighted,  very  much  in  earnest.  The  un- 
conventionality  of  the  position  irked  him,  and  he  heartily 
wished  that  he  could  quarrel  with  Ned,  or  even  huff  him 
— as  people  always  did  on  these  occasions.  But  that  was 
out  of  the  question;  he  was  bound  to  be  friendly  and 
fight  for  the  girl  fairly.  Yet,  being  what  he  was,  a 
man  with  a  natural  gift  for  business,  he  could  not  help 
drawing  up  his  prospectus,  as  it  were,  and  counting  up 
all  his  available  assets.  His  love  had  nothing  of  Ned's 
impetuosity  about  it,  so  with  all  his  real  passion  for  Aura 
he  soon  realised  that  it  was  wise  not  to  show  it  too 
much. 

It  frightened  her.  The  brotherly  tack  ensured  quicker 
confidence.  And,  of  course,  Sylvanus  Smith's  liking  for 
him  was  a  great  point  in  his  favour.  Regarding  this,  he 
did  not  feel  in  any  way  mean,  for  he  himself  liked  the  old 
fellow,  and  found  his  somewhat  antiquated  talk  in- 
teresting. 

But  this  later  offer  of  Ned's  was  another  thing;  he 
looked  round  and  accepted  it  heartily,  feeling,  however, 
as  he  often  did  when  he  looked  at  Ned's  face,  a  trifle  of 
a  sneak;  for  he  was  fighting  impulse  with  strategy,  and 
he  felt  convinced  that  he  was  right  in  doing  so. 

He  was,  nevertheless,  in  danger  of  forgetting  his  role 
when  Aura  made  her  appearance  dressed  for  her  drive. 
She  had  a  little  conscious  flush  in  her  face,  the  result  of 
having  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  tried  on  and  rejected 
various  articles  of  attire.  So  far  as  the  dress  and  coat 
went,  she  had  no  choice.    Her  method  of  life  made  wash- 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  149 

ing  dresses  a  necessity;  and  for  winter  white  was  the 
only  colour  which  would  survive  Martha's  vigorous  wash- 
ing. So  her  serge,  toned  to  a  decided  cream  by  those 
same  efforts  after  cleanliness,  was  unalterable,  and  the 
furs  she  had  found  in  the  boxes  of  outworn  apparel, 
which  her  grandfather  had  handed  over  to  her  on  her 
sixteenth  birthday,  were  also  a  permanent  asset.  She 
had  no  notion  of  their  worth — she  supposed  they  were 
sable ;  she  knew  that  when  the  darker  longer  hairs  blew 
aside  the  inner  fluff  was  exactly  the  bronze  hue  of  her 
hair.  It  was  her  head-covering  which  troubled  her.  She 
tried  a  scarlet  Tam-o'-Shanter  but  flung  it  aside.  The 
contrast  was  too  great.  A  white  one  followed  suit.  There 
was  something  wrong;  she  knew  not  what.  Finally  a 
bronze,  brown-specked  one  made  a  faint  curve  come  to 
her  lips.  It  matched  the  fur,  and  somehow,  her  face. 
Then  she  lingered  with  a  half -shamed  look  by  the  chest- 
of -drawers.  Should  she?  Should  she  not?  She  might 
at  any  rate  take  something  in  case ;  so  she  stuffed  a  long, 
fine  lace  scarf  into  her  muff  and  ran  hastily  down- 
stairs. 

Her  advent  brought  a  sort  of  breathlessness  to  the 
two  young  men.  Ned  evaded  it  by  saying  prosaically, 
"  You'll  have  to  tie  on  your  head  with  something,  I 
expect." 

"  I  have  got  something,"  replied  Aura  superbly,  and 
out  came  the  lace  scarf.  It  was  bewildering.  All  the 
more  so  when  Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith,  looking  at  her  with 
that  same  wistful  affection,  said  half  to  himself,  ' '  Your 
grandmother  wore  that,  my  dear,  when  she  was  married. ' ' 

But  there  was  no  time  for  sentimentalities.  Here  was 
a  young  girl,  instinct  with  vitality  to  her  very  finger  tips, 
going  out  for  her  first  ride  on  a  motor,  going  out  for  her 
very  first  experience  of  the  world. 

"  I  have  never  been  further  than  this  before,"  she 
said,  heaving  a  great  sigh  of  content,  as  the  car,  turn- 
ing almost  at  right  angles,  sped  over  a  bridge  and  curved 
towards  the  further  side  of  the  estuary.  "  Everything 
now  is  new !    Everything !    I  've  never  even  seen  the  hills 


150  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

this  shape  before.  And  how  strange  our  side  of  the  val- 
ley looks.  Who  would  believe  that  was  Cwmf airnog  1  I 
don't  believe  I  belong  to  it  a  bit. ' ' 

She  pointed  to  a  pale  blue  shadow  among  the  shining 
hills  showing  where  the  little  valley  sank  to  restful,  shel- 
tered peace. 

"I'm  sure  you  don't,"  echoed  Ned  joyously.  "  Only 
I  don't  quite  know  where  we  belong  to — unless  it  is 
everywhere." 

The  "  we  "  smote  on  Ted's  ears  disagreeably  as  he 
leant  over  from  the  back  between  them,  while  the  chauf- 
feur, honest  man,  sat  immovable  in  his  corner  as  if  he 
saw  and  heard  nothing. 

"  You  belong  to  us  at  present,"  he  said  laughing;  "  so 
take  care  you  don't  smash  us  up,  Ned — we  can't  afford 
to  lose  her." 

She  laughed  back  at  him  carelessly.  That  was  exactly 
what  she  felt.  She  was  having  a  splendid  time  with  both 
of  them. 

It  was  a  drive  never  to  be  forgotten.  Down  here  by 
the  sea  the  frost  had  slackened  its  hold,  and  in  sheltered 
corners  the  grass  was  as  green  as  at  midsummer.  A 
robin  was  singing  its  heart  out  on  a  bramble  bough, 
where  one  pale  flower  showed  rejoicing  in  the  winter  sun- 
shine. It  looked  colder  in  the  sky  than  it  was  on  earth, 
for  overhead  a  great  white  cloud  drifted  like  an  ice- 
berg through  a  sea  of  palest  blue — a  frozen-looking, 
chilly  blue. 

' '  Is  that  Plas  Af on  ?  I  'm  so  sorry !  ' '  exclaimed  Aura, 
as  a  swift  turn  in  the  road  brought  them  to  a  sheltered 
bay  almost  land-locked  by  a  rocky  promontory  covered 
with  trees.  It  needed  but  one  glance  at  these  to  show  you 
that  here  was  art,  not  nature.  But  it  was  art  mimicking 
Nature  in  her  kindest  moods  and  bringing  together  from 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth  the  glories  of  eastern  and 
western  forests,  of  the  south  and  of  the  north.  A  few 
gold  leaves  still  lingered  on  the  Spanish  chestnuts,  the 
blue  of  the  noble  pine  formed  a  background  for  the 
golden-barked  willow,  the  silver  cedar  threw  out  its  long 


A   SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  151 

arms  across  a  scarlet  oak,  and  almost  to  the  water's  edge 
grew  rare  conifers  and  blossoming  shrubs. 

1 '  I  believe  you  are  afraid !  I  am, ' '  said  Ned,  steering 
for  the  portico. 

' '  Who 's  afraid  ?  ' '  laughed  Ted  from  the  back  seat,  his 
eyes  on  the  girl.  "  Not  you  or  I,  I'll  bet.  We  sit  free 
of  this  sort  of  thing.  Keep  your  responsibilities  to  your- 
self, Ned!  " 

Once  more  Aura  looked  back  at  him  and  smiled  bril- 
liantly. She  was  not  afraid,  but  she  felt  oppressed.  Yet 
how  lovely  it  was!  A  velvet  lawn  sloping  away  to  the 
sea.  Those  unknown  beautiful  trees,  each  standing  sen- 
tinel over  a  portion  of  God's  earth,  and  in  the  sheltered 
nooks  groups  of  tall  grasses  and  hardy  palms.  Not  a 
dead  leaf,  every  tuft  of  herbage  in  its  right  place.  And 
the  gravel !  Aura  had  never  dreamt  of  such  gravel  be- 
fore! Each  pebble  round-polished,  glowing,  half -trans- 
lucent in  the  sunshine,  like  an  uncut  gem.  She  felt  she 
could  scarcely  dare  to  walk  upon  the  pretty  things. 

And  it  was  a  beautiful  house  too ;  a  real  fairy  palace. 
Yes !  it  was  like  a  dream — a  dream  of  great,  of  exceeding 
beauty.  There  was  not  a  discordant  note  in  it.  The 
man  of  whom  Ned  had  told  her,  who  had  built  it,  who 
had  lavished  a  fortune  on  it,  and  had  then  died  in  far- 
away Italy,  leaving  it  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Phil- 
istines, must  have  had .    What  must  he  have  had ! 

Ah !  well,  he  must  have  been  rather  like  Ned  Blackbor- 
ough  himself.  For  Plas  Afon  fitted  Ned  somehow  in  its 
fineness,  its  elusiveness. 

She  turned  her  eyes  to  him,  and  flushed ;  for  his  were 
on  hers,  thinking  how  Plas  Afon  fitted  her.  And  in 
truth  it  did;  fitted  her  all  the  more  for  the  flush,  since 
she  held  her  head  higher,  and  followed  him  with  a  still 
lighter,  freer  step. 

"  I  am  so  glad, ' '  said  Helen  Tressilian  coming  forward. 
"  This  is  Miss  Vyvyan;  Aunt  Em — this  is  Miss  Aura 
Graham. ' ' 

"  Delighted,  I'm  sure,"  murmured  a  tall,  stately,  ab- 
solutely colourless  lady,  who  was  engaged  in  making  la- 


152 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 


borious  needle-point  on  a  tiny  piece  of  black  lining  about 
two  inches  square.  A  tiny  reel  of  almost  invisible  thread, 
a  miniature  pair  of  scissors,  were  also  held  in  her  left 
hand.  They  formed  her  only  individuality ;  for  the  rest 
she  got  up  at  the  right  time,  ate  her  breakfast  and  made 
appropriate  breakfast  remarks,  and  so  lived  through  her 
day  doing  as  the  rest  of  the  world  did.  But  these  came 
down  with  her  in  the  morning  and  went  to  bed  with  her 
at  night,  held  always  in  her  white  be-ringed  left  hand. 
Perhaps  she  slept  with  them.  Anyhow  they  were  an  inte- 
gral part  of  her  waking  life.  If  any  one,  thinking  to  be 
agreeable,  asked  her  how  she  was  getting  on,  she  would 
smile  gently,  indulgently,  and  say  that  of  course  such 
work  took  time. 

Ned  used  to  feel  that  it  annihilated  Time  altogether, 
and  could  he  have  happened  on  it  unprotected,  would 
for  a  certainty  have  annihilated  it.  But  it  went  with  her 
everywhere — even  in  the  motor. 

"  Something  quite  terrible  has  happened,  Ned,"  went 
on  Helen  Tressilian — she  had  given  one  look  at  Aura 
and  been  satisfied—"  but  it  can't  be  helped.  The  Smith- 
Biggs  have  motored  over  from  Aberaron — and — and — 
they  have  brought  Mr.  Hirsch.  I  sent  Dr.  Ramsay  out 
with  them  to  show  them  the  garden,  but — but  they'll  have 
to  stop  to  lunch." 

"  They're  welcome,"  retorted  Ned  with  irritation;  "  I 
shall  lunch  in  the  garden  when  they've  left  it.  We  " — 
he  looked  at  Aura — "  only  eat  the  fruits  of  the  earth, 
you  know." 

"  It  was  your  cousin  who  asked  me  to  lunch,"  began 
Aura  gravely,  whereat  Ned  laughed. 

"  You  have  an  appalling  sense  of  duty,"  he  replied. 
"  But  I  give  in  to  it.  Now,  as  I  see  Hirsch  and  Co.  com- 
ing across  the  lawn,  if  we  slip  out  by  the  back  we  shall 
escape  them  till  lunch-time  anyhow. ' ' 

Aura  looked  at  him  doubtfully.  His  responsibilities, 
which  were  beginning  to  weigh  her  down,  seemed  to  af- 
fect him  not  at  all. 

"  Are  you  going  too,  Mr.  Cruttenden?  "  asked  Helen, 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  153 

noticing  a  certain  hesitation  on  Ted's  part.  In  truth 
he  was  undecided.  He  wanted  to  see  Mr.  Hirsch,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  he  wished  to  be  with  Aura.  Of  course 
he  could  see  his  chief  after  lunch;  but  supposing  they 
did  not  stop  to  lunch? 

So  Ned  Blackborough  had  the  girl  to  himself.  For  a 
moment  or  two,  as  he  led  her  round  by  the  back  way 
through  thickets  of  rhododendrons,  he  felt  triumphant, 
as  a  man  does  when  he  sees  an  opportunity  before  him. 
And  then,  then  he  forgot  everything  in  pure  delight  at 
her  eager  face,  in  the  joy  of  her  enjoyment. 

"It  is  the  most  beautiful  place  in  the  world,"  she 
cried  at  last,  ' '  and  this  is  the  most  beautiful  thing  in  it. ' ' 

She  was  on  her  knees  beside  a  tuft  of  red  bronze  Tyro- 
lean saxifrage,  out  of  whose  close  carpet  of  velvet  the  tiny 
silver-green  scimitars  of  the  iris  alata  curved  round 
guarding  its  broad,  purple-blue  blossoms.  For  they  were 
in  the  winter-garden  now.  Not  one  of  those  crystal  pal- 
aces of  palms  and  hot-water  pipes  which  answer  to  that 
name  in  the  minds  of  so  many.  No!  This  was  a  real 
garden,  in  full  air,  but  tucked  away  from  every  breeze 
that  blows  in  a  cove  giving  on  the  sea.  Among  the 
rocks  above  the  small  cleft  of  sandy  beach  on  which  the 
tide  lapped  lazily,  grew  all  the  kindly  green  things  in- 
numerable which  have  learnt  to  do  without  the  rest  of 
winter  sleep.  The  winding  walks  edged  their  narrow  way 
through  great  tinted  carpets  of  saxifrage  and  sedums, 
and  many  another  sturdy-leaved  coverer  of  bare  earth. 
Bronze  and  sage  and  golden,  brown  and  purple  and  grey, 
with  a  few  blue  blossoms  on  a  creeping  veronica,  a  few 
late  primroses,  a  few  early  winter  aconites.  And  through 
it,  over  all,  was  the  fine  scent  of  the  winter  heliotrope 
that  clung  to  the  crannies  of  the  rocks  or  grew  lush  by 
the  little  stream,  which,  falling  in  tinkling  cascades,  slid 
along  the  sand  into  the  sea.  It  was  such  a  garden  as 
every  one  with  patience  and  care  might  have ;  which  none 
but  the  very  few  take  the  trouble  to  plant,  There  was 
nothing  in  it  to  tell  of  wealth  save  an  old  stone  sphinx 
jutting  out  by  the  steps  which  led  to  the  tiny  wedge  of 


j  54  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

beach,  its  plinth  forming  a  sort  of  jetty,  beside  which  a 
boat  lay  moored.  That  had  the  measureless  calm  of 
Egypt  in  its  eyes  as  it  stood,  backed  by  the  changeful 
sky,  the  changeful  sea. 

' '  I  believe  it  sees  me, ' '  added  Aura,  looking  up  from 
the  broad  open  face  of  the  flower,  her  own  as  open,  as 
beautiful, ' '  and  it  has  never  seen  me  before.  _  That  makes 
me  feel  less  strange,  here  where  everything  is  new — and 
strange.  It  seems  to  me  I  have  seen  more  to-day  than  in 
all  my  life  before.    It  is  so  curious ' ' 

"  What?  To  see  new  things?  "  he  answered,  smiling 
down  at  her.  "  Isn't  that  the  only  thing  worth  having 
in  life — to  be  able  to  think  when  you  wake, '  To-day  some- 
thing may  come  to  me  which  never  came  before  ' — to  feel 
a  sort  of  perpetual  annunciation " 

She  stood  up  suddenly,  measuring  him  with  narrowed 
eyes. 

"  I  do  not  understand,"  she  began. 

He  shook  his  head.  "  Oh  yes,  you  do.  I'm  sure  of 
it.  Sit  down  on  the  plinth  there  and  I'll  try  and  tell 
you  what  I  mean. ' ' 

So  with  the  sphinx  above  her  she  sat  and  listened.  It 
was  not  much  he  had  to  say.  Only  the  half -whimsical 
half-serious  thoughts  of  a  man,  who,  almost  without 
knowing  it,  had  the  seeing  eye  for  the  invisible,  the  hear- 
ing ear  for  the  inarticulate,  who  felt,  vaguely,  that  the 
best  part  of  life  lay  beyond  the  boundary  set  to  con- 
scious life  by  the  majority  of  men. 

In  formulated  shape  it  was  all  new  to  her,  but  some- 
thing in  her,  she  knew  not  what,  found  it  familiar,  ap- 
proved, and  her  face  showed  her  approval,  her  interest. 

"  I  see,"  she  said  slowly,  "  and  the  message  is  '  fear 
not.'    I  like  that." 

' '  Yes !  "  he  replied  absently,  clasping  his  hands  over 
one  knee  and  leaning  back  against  the  plinth  to  watch 
a  cormorant  that  was  coming  back  from  fishing  beyond 
the  bar,  a  solitary  swift,  black  speck  upon  the  blue.  ' '  It 
would  be  good  if  one  could  get  at  it.  We  risk  life  every 
day  for  what  we  call  love  or  money,  but  we  are  in  a  blue 


i  i 


A   SOVEREIGN  REMEDY  155 

funk  about  the  truth,  because  the  truth  is  that  neither 
love  nor  money — you  know,  don 't  you,  that  I  am  awfully, 
hideously  rich?  " 

Ted  told  me  you  were  the  richest  man  in  England." 
The  devil  he  did!  "  laughed  Ned.  "  I  beg  your 
pardon,  but  that  wasn't  in  the  bond.  Anyhow  I'm  be- 
ginning to  feel  as  if  I  could  with  pleasure  sell  all  that  I 
have,  and  follow — something  else." 

"  But  you  have  no  right,"  began  Aura,  "  you  can't 
shirk  your  responsibilities. ' ' 

"  Et  tu,  Brute,"  he  murmured  pathetically,  "  My 
dear  creature !  You  haven 't  any  idea  how  I  loathe  being 
rich.  Money  doesn't  buy  what  I  like — freedom.  No! 
confound  it,  it  is  always  getting  in  the  way.  There !  "  he 
added  resignedly  as  he  rose,  "  I  told  you  so.  There  is 
that  pampered,  powdered  beast  of  a  footman  whom  I'm 
ruining  body  and  soul  by  my  ridiculous  claims,  coming 
to  tell  us  lunch  is  ready.  And — and  we  are  enjoying  our- 
selves. ' ' 

He  looked  at  her  as  he  held  out  his  hand  to  help  her 
to  rise.  She  gave  him  hers  frankly  enough,  but  drew  it 
away  hastily  as  if  something  in  the  touch  of  his  gave 
her  offence,  and  a  quick  frown  came  to  her  face. 

"  That  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  she  replied  aus- 
terely, ' '  You  have  no  right  to  keep  your  guests  waiting. ' ' 

"  If  I  had  your  sense  of  duty,  I — I  should  kill  that 
fellow,"  he  remarked  coolly,  as  the  footman,  stopping 
short  at  a  respectful  distance  among  the  saxifrages,  said 
in  the  tone  of  voice  in  which  a  congregation  echoes  the 
responses  in  church. 

"  If  you  please,  your  lordship,  luncheon  is  served." 

Aura  looked  grave  for  an  instant,  then  she  laughed. 
She  was  never  white  sure  whether  to  take  Ned  Black- 
borough  aux  grands  serieux  or  not.  She  admired  him, 
however,  when,  entering  the  dining-room,  the  glitter  and 
clatter  of  silver,  the  chatter  and  laughter  of  the  guests, 
and  the  consciousness  that  every  one  was  looking  at  her 
to  see  who  had  made  their  host  so  late,  gave  her  a  desire 
to  run  away.    He  was  so  easy,  so  self-possessed,  withal  so 


156  4   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

clearly  determined  not  to  let  any  one  interfere  with  his 
plan,  which  was  apparently  to  sit  beside  her. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Helen,"  he  said  cheerfully, 
"  Miss  Graham  and  I  were  in  the  winter  garden.  Will 
you  sit  here,  Miss  Graham.  Ah!  Lady  Smith-Biggs,  so 
glad  you've  come,  and  how  is  Sir  Joseph?  Don't  let  me 
disturb  you,  Ramsay.  You  fill  the  place  better  than  I 
should.  Is  there  room  for  me  by  you,  Aunt  Em  ?  Hullo, 
where 's  Hirsch  ?  ' ' 

This,  as  he  circled  the  table  brought  him  to  a  vacant 
seat  beside  Aunt  Em ;  but  also  next  to  Aura  to  whom  he 
said  in  an  undertone,  "  They'll  hand  you  things  you  can 
eat." 

The  butler's  introduction  of  an  elaborate  silver  dish 
with  the  mystic  whisper,  ' '  Brown  bread  and  butter  cut- 
lets," emphasised  the  remark,  and  she  helped  herself 
decorously  with  a  spoon  and  fork. 

"  Mr.  Hirsch  and  Mr.  Cruttenden  went  off  smoking 
somewhere,"  replied  Helen,  "  Ah!  here  they  come  at 
last." 

"  My  dear  Mrs.  Tressilian,"  exploded  Mr.  Hirsch  in 
his  strident  voice,  "I  am  overwhelmed,  but  when  one 
gets  to  talking  about  money " 

"  There  is  always  the  devil  to  pay,  Hirsch,"  put  in 
Ned. 

'  'Ah!  my  dear  Blackborough,  wie  gehts.  WTiat  an 
entrancing  place.    Why  don't  you  buy  it?  " 

"  It  is  not  for  sale,"  replied  Ned,  "  and  it's  quite 
enough  to  hire  it,  I  assure  you,  Hirsch." 

Mr.  Hirsch  laughed  in  his  loud  unfettered  fashion. 

"  Ah!  my  dear  Blackborough,  you  always  pay  too 
much  for  everything.    You  are  the  sellers '  natural  prey. ' ' 

Aura  who  had  helped  herself  out  of  another  silver 
dish  to  something  which  the  butler  called  f raises  a  la 
creme  en  caisses,  because  it  looked  to  her  like  strawber- 
ries and  cream,  gave  a  quick  glance  at  Ned. 

Paid  for;  yes,  of  course,  everything  must  have  been 
paid  for.  In  an  instant  all  her  pleasure  became  trans- 
muted to  gold.    The  very  strawberries — strawberries  at 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  157 

Christmas !  What  must  they  not  have  cost  ?  And  they 
had  been  got  for  her.  She  felt,  hotly,  as  if  she  were  being 
bribed. 

"  If  you  will  finish  your  lunch/ '  came  Ned's  voice  in 
an  undertone,  "  we  can  start  back  as  soon  afterwards  as 
you  choose.  Yes !  Hirsch, ' '  he  added  out  loud,  ' '  I  know 
I  'm  done  all  round.  But  it  amuses  people,  and  it  doesn  't 
hurt  me.    The  only  use  of  money  is  to  get  rid  of  it. ' ' 

"  I  never,  Mrs.  Tressilian,"  protested  Lady  Smith- 
Biggs  plaintively,  "  quite  understand  what  your  cousin 
means. ' ' 

"  I  don't  wonder,"  replied  Helen  soothingly,  then 
smiled  to  herself,  for,  in  truth,  the  lady  in  question  sel- 
dom understood  anything,  but,  being  the  wife  of  a  con- 
servative manufacturer  who  stood  for  his  native  town, 
thought  it  her  duty  to  take  an  interest  in  social  and  po- 
litical questions.  "  Ned  loves  paradoxes,  but  he  really 
hates  being  cheated  as  much  as  any  one. ' ' 

"  I  only  meant,  Lady  Smith-Biggs,"  put  in  Lord 
Blackborough,  gravely,  "  that  I  am  quite  willing  to  sub- 
scribe— as  I  am  sure  Sir  Joseph  does — to  all  the  great 
truths  which  underlie  our  commercial  prosperity.  That 
is  to  say,  first,  that  everything  is  worth  what  it  will  fetch, 
and  a  trifle  more  for  underhand  percentages.  Secondly, 
that  nothing  can  be  called  cheating  in  an  open  market. 
Thirdly,  that  truth  is  the  affair  of  the  purchaser,  or 
his  creator." 

"  Bah!  my  dear  Lord  Blackborough,"  laughed  Mr. 
Hirsch,  "  you  would  have  a  world  without  money;  it 
would  be  a  pretty  paradise." 

"  But,"  protested  Lady  Smith-Biggs  again,  her  dia- 
mond ear-rings  twinkling — they  were  so  magnificent  that 
they  made  one  forget  the  redness  and  the  fatness  of  the 
face  against  which  they  shone,  "  I  really  do  not  under- 
stand. If  you  have  no  money,  how  can  you  pay  your 
bills?  " 

"  I  pay  mine  by  cheque,"  remarked  Ned  with  a  side- 
glance  at  Aura.  After  her  sudden  desire  to  escape  which 
his  aside  had  checked,  she  had  become  amused,  then  in- 


158  4   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

terested,  by  the  conversation.  And  now  his  allusion  made 
her  flush  up,  then  smile,  for  she  was  beginning  to  realise 
that  this  curious  world,  in  which  money  played  so  impor- 
tant a  part,  was  really  the  world  in  which  she  had  always 
lived.    She  had  not  seen  the  token ;  that  was  all. 

"  But,  my  dear  Ned,"  said  Miss  Vyvyan  placidly, 
1 '  you  can 't  pay  everything  by  cheque.  The  bank  doesn  't 
like  cashing  small  sums.  I  know  when  I  send  for  my 
thread  to  Honiton — I  have  to  send  there,  you  know,  it  is 
so  fine,"  she  explained  to  Lady  Smith-Biggs,  laying  her 
hand  on  the  tiny  black  roll  which,  as  usual,  was  beside 
her  plate,  ' '  I  always  have  to  send  a  postal  order. ' ' 

"  Exactly  so,"  breathed  Lady  Smith-Briggs  with  a 
sigh  of  relief ;  "  so  you  are  wrong,  Lord  Blackborough. 
Why!  even  the  very  children  have  pennies.  I  used  to 
think  it  rather  dreadful  their  doing  so  much  shopping 
for  their  mothers,  but  Sir  Joseph  says  you  cannot  train 
them  too  early  to  understand  the  real  value  of  money. 
And  I  am  sure  he  is  right,  for  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
live  without  it. ' ' 

"  That  is  a  question  which  we  ought  to  refer  to  Miss 
Graham,"  remarked  Ned  Blackborough  coolly,  "  I  be- 
lieve she  has  never  even  seen  a  sixpence. ' ' 

If  a  bomb  had  fallen  on  the  lunch-table  it  could  not 
have  produced  a  greater  effect.  Mr.  Hirsch  sat  petrified, 
his  fork  halfway  to  his  mouth.  All  eyes  were  turned  on 
Aura,  who  bore  the  brunt  with  smiles,  for  there  was 
something  of  pure  mischief  in  her  host's  face  which  was 
infectious.    Even  Ted,  over  the  way,  waited,  amused. 

"  I  believe  she  did,  once,  see  a  sovereign,"  continued 
Ned.    ' '  Perhaps  she  will  tell  you  what  she  did  with  it. ' ' 

The  girl's  face  dimpled  with  laughter.  "  I  gave  it 
to  the  cockatoo." 

Dynamite  could  not  possibly  have  been  more  discon- 
certing. 

"  The  cockatoo!  "  echoed  Mr.  Hirsch  automatically, 
as,  becoming  aware  that  the  sole  au  vin  olanc  on  his  fork 
was  dripping  on  to  his  waistcoat,  he  dabbed  blindly  at 
the  spot  with  his  napkin.    "  And — and  may  I  ask,  my 


A   SOVEREIGN  REMEDY  159 

dear  young  lady,  what — what  the  cockatoo  did  with 
it?  " 

"  He  wouldn't  eat  it,"  said  Aura. 

"  And  so,"  interrupted  Ted  rather  viciously,  "  it  was 
thrown  into  the  stream. ' ' 

Aura  turned  swiftly  on  Ned.  This  was  news.  "  Did 
you?  "  she  began. 

"  So  there  it  lies,"  remarked  Ned,  "  as  the  beginning 
of  a  Welsh  gold-mine.  Make  a  prospectus  out  of  that, 
Hirsch;  it  would  be  as  true  as  most  of  them,  I  expect." 

"  But  I  do  not  quite  understand,"  protested  Lady 
Smith-Biggs  once  more,  her  pale  blue  eyes  fixed  vacantly 
on  Aura.  ' '  What !  you  have  never  seen  a  sixpence — how 
— how  dreadful!  " 

"  That  is  easily  remedied,"  remarked  Peter  Ramsay; 
"  I  believe  I  have  so  much  in  my  pocket,  anyhow." 

"  Stay  a  bit,  Ramsay,"  said  Lord  Blackborough; 
"  Miss  Graham's  ignorance  is  not  confined  to  sixpence. 
She  is  generally  unacquainted  with  the  coin  of  the 
realm. ' ' 

Mr.  Hirsch 's  eyes  were  almost  starting  out  of  his  head, 
partly  in  admiration  of  the  girl  whom  he  now  discovered 
to  be  exceedingly  beautiful.  "  Gott  in  Himmel!  "  he 
muttered,  "  I  believe  I  have  half  a  crown  an'  two 
shillings. ' ' 

"  Capital!  "  cried  Ned.  "  Simmonds,  take  the  plate 
round,  and  then  bring  it  to  Miss  Graham." 

"  Admirable!  Admirable!  Blackborough,  mon  cherl 
You  have  imagination!  "  exploded  Mr.  Hirsch,  fumbling 
excitedly  in  his  pockets.  ' '  What  luck !  I  have  a  two- 
florin  bit,  and  I  swore  at  them  when  they  gave  it  me! 
Ah!  young  lady!  one  does  not  often  meet  one  so  old — 
a  thousand  pardons,  mademoiselle,  but  at  your  age  one 
need  not  be  so  afraid."  His  good-natured  face  was  brim- 
ful of  kindliness  and  honest  enjoyment,  and  Aura  re- 
sponded to  it. 

"  You  needn't  be  in  the  least  afraid,"  she  smiled,  "  I 
shall  be  twenty-one  on  New  Year's  Day." 

The  information  was  welcome  to  at  least  two  of  the 


1(50  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

party,  and  the  others,  carried  away  out  of  the  conven- 
tional for  the  time,  applauded  the  confidence. 

"  Soh!  "  exclaimed  Mr.  Hirsch,  who  was  now  busy 
with  coins  and  a  silver  salver,  while  the  butler  and  two 
footmen  stood  behind  him  sniggering.  "  Aha!  young 
lady,  you  began  a  new  era ;  ah !  we  must  all  send  you  a — 
what  do  you  call  etrennes  in  English  to  commemorate 
this  extraordinary — Mein  Gott!  Has  any  one  a  three- 
penny bit  ?  " 

So  with  much  laughter,  Lady  Smith-Biggs  absolutely 
contributing  from  a  very  small  purse  a  whole  five-shilling 
piece,  a  complete  set  of  coins  was  handed  to  Aura. 

"  With  the  company's  compliments,  Miss,"  said  the 
butler. 

' '  That  ends  your  hours  of  innocence,  Miss  Graham, ' ' 
remarked  Ned  Blackborough  gravely,  as  the  ladies  left 
the  room. 

It  did  not  end  Aura's  ordeal,  however,  for,  once  in 
the  drawing-room,  Lady  Smith-Biggs  begged  to  be  intro- 
duced in  form. 

"  Oh!  I  am  sorry,"  said  Aura  innocently,  reaching  up 
to  the  good  lady 's  outstretched  waggling  hand ;  ' '  but  I 
always  shake  hands  lower  down.    Is  that  the  right  way  ?  ' ' 

The  question  verged  on  the  impossible,  since  Lady 
Smith-Biggs  lived  in  the  highest  circles.  But  she  ignored 
it,  and  all  her  good  breeding  did  not  prevent  her  descend- 
ing on  the  girl  with  a  perfect  cataract  of  questions. 
"Where  did  she  live,  who  was  her  father,  had  she  any 
brothers  or  sisters? 

Aura  began  to  grow  restive. 

"  No !  "  she  replied  shortly ;  then  fearing  she  had  been 
too  incisive,  added,  "  I  have  often  wished  I  had.  I 
should  have  liked  them. ' ' 

Helen  Tressilian  coming  to  the  rescue  looked  at  her 
with  soft  approving  eyes.  "  They  would  have  liked  you, 
I  'm  sure.    I  expect  you  are  very  fond  of  children. ' ' 

The  girl  turned  to  her  impulsively.  "Yes — very! 
You  don't  know  how  often  I've  wished  that  I  had  a 
baby." 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  161 

It  was  worse  than  the  sixpence.  Lady  Smith-Biggs 
gasped. 

Her  matronly  breast  heaved.  She  cast  a  nervous 
glance  towards  her  daughter,  who  was  providentially  oc- 
cupied in  looking  at  Miss  Vyvyan's  lace-work. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said  majestically,  "  you  haven't  a 
mother,  so  you'll  excuse  me  telling  you  that  we  don't 
say  that  sort  of  thing  in  society. ' ' 

Aura  blushed  a  furious  red. 

* '  Why  not  ?  "she  asked,  and  her  voice  had  a  militant 
ring  in  it. 

"  0  Ned,  Ned!  "  whispered  Helen  Tressilian  to  her 
cousin,  as  at  that  moment  the  gentleman  entered  the 
room,  "  for  Heaven's  sake  take  her  away  from  us  soon 
or  she  will  be  spoilt !  ' ' 

He  grasped  the  situation  in  a  moment.  "  I'm  afraid 
we  must  be  starting,  Miss  Graham.  We  are  going  to  row 
you  across  the  estuary,  and  then  we  can  walk  home  over 
the  hills.    You  have  never  been  in  a  boat,  have  you  ?  ' ' 

1 '  No !  "  said  poor  Aura,  suddenly  feeling  inclined  to 
cry.  It  seemed  to  her  as  if  she  knew  nothing  and  had 
seen  nothing. 


CHAPTER   XIY 

Peter  Ramsay  had  come  down  to  spend  the  Christmas 
holidays  at  Plas  Afon  in  a  very  bad  temper,  both  with 
himself  and  his  world. 

He  was  perfectly  aware  that  he  had  been  over-hasty 
in  his  struggle  with  vested  interests,  but  what  irritated 
him  most  of  all  was  the  knowledge  that  he  had,  as  it 
were,  cut  the  ground  from  under  his  own  feet,  so  that 
further  fighting  was  impossible.  He  could,  of  course, 
go  over  to  Vienna,  and  learn  a  great  deal  under  Pagen- 
heim;  but  he  would  only  have  to  come  home  again  and 
begin  where  he  had  left  off;  which  was  silly — intensely 
silly!  There  are  few  things  more  annoying  than  the 
knowledge  that  you  have  given  yourself  away  needlessly, 
and  that  a  very  slight  application  of  a  drag  might  have 
prevented  the  apple-cart  from  being  overturned.  The 
whole  affair  seemed  now  almost  childish  in  its  crudity. 
What  the  deuce  did  it  matter  whether  a  hogshead  or  a 
pint  of  beer  were  drunk,  or  if  one  patient  the  more  died, 
instead  of  living  to  die  in  due  time  of  something  worse ! 

He  was  glooming  out  of  the  window  over  such  thoughts 
as  these  when  Helen,  after  seeing  Lady  Smith-Biggs  start 
— despite  her  lunch — in  a  terrible  fuss  lest  she  should  be 
too  late  for  tea,  came  back  to  the  drawing-room.  Aunt 
Em,  as  always,  had  discreetly  retired  to  her  room, 
whether  for  work  or  sleep  none  knew,  so  they  were  alone. 
It  was  for  the  first  time,  and  Helen  seized  her  opportu- 
nity, for  she  had  something  she  wished  to  say  to  him.  So 
she  crossed  to  where  he  stood,  his  thumbs  in  his  waist- 
coat pockets. 

"  Ned  tells  me  you  have  made  up  your  mind  to  Vi- 
enna, ' '  she  said  kindly.    There  was  a  sort  of  f orlornness 

162 


A   SOYEREWN   REMEDY  163 

about  this  strong,  capable  man  which  always  touched 
her. 

"  I  have,  Mrs.  Tressilian,"  he  replied  somewhat  defi- 
antly.   "  I  shall  go  to  Pagenheim,  and  find  out — things. " 

She  smiled.  "  And  come  back,  I  suppose,  to  give  No. 
36  in  the  Queen  's  ward  a  chance  of  life !  ' ' 

"  If  any  one  will  provide  me  with  a  private  hospital 
meanwhile,  Mrs.  Tressilian,' '  he  answered,  "  for  I  don't 
see  my  way  to  it  otherwise. ' ' 

She  flushed  a  little  eagerly,  as  if  the  conversation  were 
taking  the  turn  she  had  desired. 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  say  that,  Dr.  Ramsay, ' '  she  replied, 
11  for  it  helps  me  to  say  something.  You  know  I  have 
left  the  hospital — at  least  I  am  not  going  back.  Now  I 
have  to  live  somewhere ;  where  matters  little.  And — de- 
spite what  you  thought  once — I  am  quite  a  decent  nurse ; 
a  good  one  if — if  I  am  keenly  interested.  If  I  were  to 
take  a  small  house  outside  Blackborough — or  anywhere 
else — and — and  make  a  regular  surgical  ward  out  of  one 
room,  would  you — would  you  try  that  operation  ?  ' ' 

He  stared  at  her.    "  But  why  on  earth "  he  began. 

*  *  For  many  reasons !  ' '  she  interrupted  hastily. 
' '  Chiefly  because  I  confess  to  feeling  a  responsibility. ' ' 

' '  Or  my  lack  of  it !  "  he  put  in  dryly.  ' '  I  'm  afraid 
not,  Mrs.  Tressilian;  it  would  cost  too  much.  To  be 
frank — you  haven't  the  money,  neither  have  I." 

1 '  Money !  ' '  she  echoed,  a  trifle  scornfully.  ' i  Oh !  it 
isn  't  a  question  of  money.  Ned  would  find  that.  I  have 
spoken  to  him,  and  he  is  quite  ready  to  help. ' ' 

Peter  Ramsay  became  very  stiff.  "  That  is  extremely 
kind  of  him,  and  it  is  extremely  kind  of  you  also " 

"I  am  only  thinking  of  No.  36,"  she  interpolated 
warningly. 

' i  I  am  perfectly  aware  of  that  fact, ' '  he  replied ; ' '  but 
may  I  remind  you  of  another — that  No.  36  is  only  one 
out  of,  say,  a  million  who  are  very  possibly  better  dead 
and  out  of  the  way?  My  cutting  him  about  might  be  a 
selfish  pleasure ;  my  duty  might  be — euthanasia !  ' ' 

She  looked  at  him  vexedly.    "  I  do  not  dictate  to  you 


164  &    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

a  doctor's  duty,"  she  said  with  spirit,  "  but  I  know  that 
a  nurse's  is  '  to  save  life  and  defy  death  at  all  costs.' 
Have  I  got  that  quite  pat  ?  ' ' 

He  smiled.  "  You  have  an  excellent  memory,  Mrs. 
Tressilian,"  he  replied,  "  and — and  I  am  grateful  for 
the  suggestion,  but  it  is  quite  out  of  the  question.  Per- 
haps when  I  return  from  Vienna  I  may  be  able  to — 
to  do  my  duty.  At  present  I  ought  to  be  starting  for 
my  walk  over  the  hills.  Lord  Blackborough  has  prom- 
ised to  pick  me  up  at  Dinas — the  motor  is  to  meet  him 
there — and  as  this  is  my  last  day " 

' '  Are  you  leaving  us  to-morrow  ?  ' '  she  asked  quickly. 

For  an  instant  he  felt  inclined  to  confess  that  he  had 
had  no  previous  intention  of  departing  before  the  New 
Year,  but  he  swallowed  his  vexation  at  his  own  hasty 
decision,  and  said  rather  lamely, ' '  I  am  afraid  I  must — 
I  ought  just  to  give  a  look  round  the  London  hospitals 
before  I  go  abroad. ' ' 

"  I  suppose  it  would  be  better,"  she  assented  sarcas- 
tically. ' '  I  have  always  understood  that  they  are  really 
not  bad." 

"  Except  for  the  beer,"  he  answered  coolly,  and  left 
her. 

But  though  it  was  easy  enough  to  dismiss  Helen  and 
her  suggestions  in  this  cavalier  fashion,  he  could  not  dis- 
miss a  feeling  of  irritation  at  her  implied  disapproval. 
The  faintest  hint  of  it  always  roused  resentment  in  him 
and  a  desire  to  make  that  disapproval  utterly  unreason- 
able. So,  as  he  breasted  the  hills,  intending  to  walk  over 
their  summits,  and  when  time  was  up  drop  down  on  Dinas 
and  the  motor,  his  thoughts  were  busy  with  the  possibil- 
ity of  fitting  in  No.  36  in  the  Queen's  ward  with  his 
plans  for  the  future. 

There  was  always  the  hidden  hundred  pounds — if  it 
still  existed !  He  had  a  great  mind  to  see  if  it  did,  since 
he  was  so  close  to  its  hiding-place. 

Would  he  have  time?  He  looked  at  his  watch,  and 
then  gave  a  glance  seaward.  The  estuary,  now  at  flood 
tide,  lay  silver  in  the  winter  sunshine,  and  not  more  than 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  165 

halfway  across  it  he  could  discern  a  slowly-moving  black 
speck.  The  boat,  of  course.  If  that  were  so,  he  would 
have  ample  time,  and  for  a  smoke  also.  He  sat  down, 
and  watched  the  small  black  speck,  wondering  what  had 
delayed  those  three.  It  seemed  to  be  going  faster  now ; 
but  even  so,  there  was  time  and  to  spare.  An  hour  and  a 
half  at  least  ere  they  could  possibly  crest  those  further 
hills  and  drop  down  into  the  valley.  And  then — then, 
by  the  computation  of  experience,  it  would  be  at  least 
an  hour  ere  Ned  Blackborough  would  tear  himself  away ! 

Peter  Ramsay  had  rather  a  contempt  for  love.  It  was 
to  him  a  physiological  disease,  the  violence  of  which  ar- 
gued a  lack  of  self-control.  And  the  beautiful  girl  who 
had  never  seen  a  sixpence,  though  very  charming,  ap- 
peared to  him  to  be  a  most  unsuitable  wife  for  any  man. 
For  his  idea  of  a  wife  was  distinctly  some  one  who  could 
comfort  and  coddle,  and — without  open  words — prevent 
one  from  making  an  ass  of  oneself. 

Yes!  he  had  made  an  ass  of  himself;  but,  concerning 
No.  36,  there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  not  take  his 
own  way.  After  all,  there  was  nothing  but  life.  The 
metaphysicians  would  put  thought  first,  but  it  was 
"  Ergo  sum,  cogito,"  not  the  converse — at  any  rate  to 
common-sense. 

Nothing  was  susceptible  to  absolute  proof  except  life 
and  death,  and  they  probably  were  mere  conditions  of 
matter. 

As  he  looked  out,  the  light  waves  from  the  faintly  de- 
clining sun  were  turning  the  invisible  vapour  about  the 
higher  hills  into  a  filmy  mist- veil  which  seemed  to  hang 
between  him  and  the  distant  view.  His  eye  seemed  to 
detect  in  it  a  ceaseless  shimmer,  an  almost  imperceptible 
vibration. 

That  was  it,  truly !  The  motes  in  a  sunbeam — even  he 
himself  for  that  matter — were  but  transient  aggregations 
of  the  atoms  in  their  unending  dance  of  life  and  death. 
What  would  they  hive  into,  like  swarming  bees  ?  A  man 
or  a  mouse — who  could  tell  ?  Only  the  master  of  the  cere- 
monies in  this  dance  macabre.     So  the  question  of  life 


166  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

or  death  was  already  settled  for  No.  36,  though,  so  far 
as  he — Peter  Ramsay — was  concerned,  it  depended  on 
the  existence  or  non-existence  of  that  miserable  pittance 
of  a  hundred  pounds.  But  all  the  sanctions,  all  the  men- 
tal and  moral  backings  of  humanity,  depended  on  some- 
thing which  could  not  be  proved  to  exist. 

He  rose  with  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  put  out  his 
pipe,  and  started  on  again.  Life  or  death  seemed  to  him 
to  hang  on  that  hundred  pounds.  He  did  not  much  care 
which;  the  odds  were  distinctly  on  death. 

As  he  turned  ere  dipping  down  into  the  valley  which 
lay  between  him  and  the  gap,  he  gave  a  last  look  at  the 
silver  shield  of  the  estuary.  The  boat  must  have  reached 
the  shelter  of  the  further  shadow — unless  it  had  gone 
down !  Life  and  Death — Death  and  Life !  An  even  bal- 
ance, despite  the  surgeon's  skill;  despite  even  money. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  boat  had  at  last  reached  the 
opposite  shore,  and  Ned  Blackborough,  feeling  savage 
with  himself  and  Fate,  was  standing  by  holding  the  rope 
taut,  while  Ted,  visibly  triumphant,  was  lifting  Aura 
bodily  from  the  boat  across  the  intervening  yards  of 
slush  and  seaweed. 

He  set  her  down  gently  with  a  frank  "  That's  all 
right, ' '  and  she,  looking  up  at  him,  smiled  her  thanks. 

"  I'm  so  sorry  you  hurt  your  arm,"  she  said  to  Ned 
rather  condescendingly.  "  It  is  lucky  Ted  could  row 
so  well,  isn't  it?  " 

"  Very  lucky,"  replied  Ned,  feeling  aggrieved.  He 
had  gone  on  pulling  against  that  miscounted  tide  till  he 
positively  could  no  more,  and  even  now  the  pain  of  his 
ill-mended  arm  made  him  feel  almost  sick.  He  had  been 
forced  to  give  in,  and  though  Ted  had  been  perfectly 
within  his  rights  in  failing  to  let  Aura  know  that  the  dis- 
ability was — well!  not  absolutely  blameworthy — he  need 
not  have  sculled  so  confoundedly  well. 

He  had  been  a  picture  to  look  at,  bending  easily  to 
the  long  stroke  while  Ned  was  idly  steering. 

"  We  had  better  take  the  Crudel  valley,"  said  the  lat- 
ter as  a  bye-path  showed  up  a  lonely  glen ;  * '  it  isn  't  half 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  167 

as  pretty  as  this,  but  it  is  shorter,  and  we  haven't  much 
time.    I  delayed  you  horribly. ' ' 

Aura  smiled  tolerantly.  "  But  we  came  along  splen- 
didly afterwards,  didn't  we!" 

"  You  know  this  country  awfully  well,"  remarked 
Ted,  feeling  the  urgent  need  of  generosity.  "  I  haven't 
an  idea  where  we  are." 

But  Ned  was  in  no  humour  for  patronage. 

"  I  happen  to  hold  the  mineral  rights  of  the  Crudel 
valley  in  rather  a  queer,  roundabout  way,"  he  replied. 
"  They  went  with  a  property  my  uncle  had  bought  in 
Shropshire— but  that  is  beside  the  point.  Naturally, 
with  all  the  fuss  there  has  been  about  the  slate  quarries 
lately,  I  have  had  to  know  something  as  to  the  lie  of  the 
land.  When  we  first  met,  I  was  down  to  see  it,  so  there 
is  nothing  wonderful  in  my  knowledge. 

Ted  stared  at  him.  ' '  By  George !  Then  it  is  you  who 
put  a  spoke  in  the  wheel  of  that  new  company?  ' 

Aura  looked  at  him  also,  and  with  quick  disapproval. 
"  Is  it  you  who  have  thrown  all  the  people  out  of 
work?  "  she  asked.  "  Do  you  know  some  of  the  chil- 
dren haven't  enough  to  eat,— at  least,"  she  added,  her 
look  having  brought  her,  she  scarcely  knew  why,  a  vague 
doubt,  "  Martha  told  me  that  the  people  were  getting  up 
a  subscription  for  them." 

Ned  laughed  derisively  and  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  You  won't  understand  what  I  mean,  but  there  is  a 
general  election  due  next  year.  The  men  have  had  other 
employment  offered  them;  if  they  won't  accept  it,  that  is 
their  own  fault." 

"  But  I  don't  understand  your  objection began 

Ted. 

"  Don't  you?  "  interrupted  Lord  Blackborough.  I 
think  that  must  be  because  you  don't  know  good  slate 
from  bad. ' ' 

They  had  passed  on  by  this  time  into  that  most  deso- 
late of  all  places  on  God's  earth,  a  valley  of  unworked 
slate  quarries,  a  valley  desecrated  by  man's  needs,  yet 
needed  not  by  man.    Seamed,  scarred,  riven  until  scarcely 


Igg  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

a  blade  of  gracious  grass  remained  on  what  had  once  been 
soft,  sweet  sheep-bite  set  with  heather,  shadowed  by  dense 
bracken  thickets.  Great  moraines  of  debris,  not  rounded 
by  long  aeons  of  slow  yet  certain  grinding  in  the  mill  of 
God,  but  fresh,  crude,  angled,  from  the  hand  of  man, 
usurped  the  valley  now  on  this  side,  now  on  that,  turn- 
ing the  very  roadway,  bordered  by  rusty  rails,  to  their 
pleasure.  A  mountain  stream,  released  from  long  slav- 
ery, sped — exultantly  free — past  the  low  congeries  of 
differently  pitched  roofs  supported  by  iron  pilasters,  be- 
neath which  cogwheels  and  bands,  levers  and  distributors 
stood  unmovable,  rusted  into  silence.  Hanging  halfway 
up  a  stiff  incline  of  shale,  an  empty  truck  hung  rusted 
to  the  rails.  Another,  full  of  split  slate  squared,  holed, 
ready  for  homestead  or  granary,  stood  in  the  wide  stack- 
ing-yard  where  thousands  and  thousands  of  these  same 
leaves  of  slate,  looking  like  huge  books,  were  ranged  in 
orderly  piles.  How  many  homes,  how  many  churches, 
how  many  barns  and  factories  might  not  have  been  roofed 
in  by  these  piles  waiting  idly ! 

For  what?    For  money. 

Ned  Blackborough  stooped  down  and  picked  up  a  slate 
which  had  fallen  on  the  truck-way.  It  snapped  between 
his  fingers,  and  with  a  laugh  he  flung  it  aside. 

"  Bad  stuff!  "  he  said,  "  and  that  is  better  than  most. 
I  tell  you  that  this  valley,  which  is  a  valley  of  desola- 
tion now,  has  been  a  valley  of  dishonesty  from  the  very 
beginning. ' ' 

His  eyes  seemed  to  catch  fire,  and  he  turned  to  Ted 
almost  threateningly,  "  And  you  don't  understand!  Will 
you  understand,  I  wonder,  when  I  tell  you  that  these 
quarries,  like  many  another,  have  been  in  the  hands  of 
speculators  from  the  very  beginning?  Some  one  who 
knew  the  slate  was  bad  took  to  himself  others  who  knew 
it  also,  and  between  them  they  floated  a  company.  When 
the  money  had  gone,  some  other  rascal  bought  the  bank- 
rupt stock  and  started  another  company,  and  another, 
and  another.  And  all  the  time,  these  workmen  whom  you 
commiserate  were  hewing  and  splitting  and  taking  their 


A   SOVEREIGN  REMEDY  Igg 

wages,  for  what?  For  money,  only  for  money!  What 
was  it  to  them  that  the  slate  was  bad,  that  their  labour 
was  wasted  and  vain  ?  They  got  their  money.  And  now 
they  wonder  because,  when  the  lease  of  the  last  company 
was  up,  I  stepped  in  and  said  '  No.'  This  sham  shan't 
go  on.  I  claim  my  right,  and  I  won't  be  bribed  by  any- 
body. ' '  He  spoke  almost  passionately,  then  laughed,  and, 
with  a  brief  * '  I  beg  your  pardon ;  these  things  irritate 
me,"  struck  up  a  shady  footpath  which  led  over  the 
hill. 

' '  I  don 't  exactly  see  how  it  could  have  been  done, ' '  re- 
marked Ted  argumentatively.  ' '  If  they  went  bankrupt 
they  must  have  had  a  valuator,  and  then " 

"  I've  no  doubt  they  had,"  broke  in  Ned  impatiently, 
"  but  what  I  tell  you  is  the  long  and  short  of  it." 

"  Besides,  I  don't  consider  the  workman  is  to  be 
blamed  at  all,"  argued  Ted.  "  So  long  as  he  does  his 
work  fairly  and  gets  his  pay  for  doing  that  work,  no 
one  has  a  right  to  find  fault  with  him.  Then  think  of 
the  women  and  children. ' ' 

Aura,  whose  face  had  grown  keen  over  the  discussion, 
looked  swiftly  at  Ned,  awaiting  his  answer.  He,  in  one 
of  his  worst  moods,  gave  it  unhesitatingly : ' '  My  dear  fel- 
low, what  is  the  use  of  breeding  up  a  race  of  thieves 
and  swindlers  !  ' ' 

With  that  he  bent  himself  to  take  the  hill  at  a  gallop, 
leaving  those  two  agreeing  as  to  the  women  and  children, 
agreeing  also  in  a  thousand  superficial  likings  and  dis- 
likings  born  of  youth,  high  spirits,  and  no  small  lack  of 
thought. 

But  at  a  sharp  turn  amid  the  tumbled  debris,  they 
overtook  Lord  Blackborough  opposed  to  a  small  boy 
seated  disconsolately  on  the  ground  in  a  puddle  of  fresh 
milk,  dotted  with  the  remains  of  a  broken  jug,  while 
an  ill-looking  collie  dog  yapped  from  the  shelter  of  a 
more  than  usually  large  block  of  worthless  slate. 

"  It  wasn't  my  fault,"  explained  Ned  ruefully. 
11  That  brute  of  a  dog  upset  him,  trying  to  bark  and 
run  away  at  the  same  time." 


170  ^.    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

The  small  boy,  having  now  realised  his  misfortune,  was 
blubbering  in  Welsh. 

"  I  don't  understand  what  he  is  saying,' '  said  Aura, 
looking  up  at  Ted,  after  bending  over  the  urchin  with 
English  consolation.     "  Do  you?  " 

He  shook  his  head.  "  That  is  the  worst  of  wild  Wales ; 
one  can't  be  compassionate." 

Ned  looked  at  them  a  trifle  contemptuously. 

"  He's  afraid.  A  boy  never  blubbers  like  that  with- 
out cause,  and  he  isn  't  hurt.  Here,  you !  "  he  continued, 
hauling  the  child  up  incontinently,  "  don't  howl.  I  go 
with  you  home — catre — do  you  understand? — catre — 
mam." 

With  which  Welsh  smattering,  he  dragged  up  the  un- 
willing boy,  still  blubbering,  towards  a  group  of  slate 
cottages  which  showed  a  few  hundred  yards  away.  Such 
desolate-looking  cottages,  only  to  be  differentiated  by 
their  straight  lines  from  the  masses  of  debris  about  them. 

"  You  go  on,"  he  called  back.  "  It's  straight  over 
the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  then  you  can  see.  I  '11  pick  you 
up  in  no  time. ' ' 

But  when  they  looked  back  from  the  summit,  there  was 
no  trace  of  him  on  the  upward  path. 

' '  There  is  no  use  waiting, ' '  said  Ted  oracularly.  ' '  By 
George !  what  a  relief  this  is. ' ' 

He  spoke  in  glad  confidence  as  his  eye  travelled  over 
God's  good  world  untouched,  undefiled,  and  yet  in  his 
heart  of  hearts  he  would  not  have  scrupled  at  any  dese- 
cration of  Nature,  provided  it  were  in  pursuit  of  gold. 

Nevertheless,  he  responded  at  once  to  the  fresh,  bright 
breeze  on  the  wide,  undulating  hill-tops,  and  the  free, 
glad  joy  in  life  itself  as  life,  came  to  him  as  they  passed 
with  springy  step  over  grass-land  and  bog-land,  all 
a-crackle  with  faint  frost.  What  did  they  talk  about? 
Not  love,  certainly — he  was  too  wise  for  that — though 
love  lay  at  the  bottom  of  all  his  thoughts. 

"  How  your  hand  trembles,"  she  said  laughingly,  as 
he  held  hers  in  crossing  a  brook. 

He  flushed  a  little.    ' '  We  've  been  going  such  a  rate, ' ' 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  171 

he  replied.  "  You're  the  best  walker  I  know,  for  a 
girl." 

There  was  something  in  the  qualification  which  set  her 
at  her  ease. 

' '  I  wonder  what  has  become  of  Ned  ?  ' '  she  said  once, 
as  they  finally  turned  into  the  home  valley  and  saw  be- 
neath them,  spread  out  like  a  map,  the  familiar  fields, 
the  sloping  lawn,  the  straight  walks  of  the  garden,  the 
cosy,  comfortable-looking  chimneys  all  asmoke. 

Ted  pointed  to  the  sky-line  above  them,  where  for  an 
instant  a  dark  something,  which  might  have  been  a  sheep, 
and  might  have  been  a  man,  showed,  then  disappeared. 

"  Up  in  the  clouds,  as  usual,"  he  laughed.  "  Ned  is 
an  awfully  good  chap,  but  I  wish  he  wasn  't  quite  so  bal- 
loony. ' ' 

Aura  looked  at  him  distastefully.  "  I  like  him  best 
when  he  is  in  the  clouds, ' '  she  said  firmly.  ' '  Of  course, ' ' 
here  she  became  slightly  reflective,  ' '  I  dare  say  his  being 
so — so  erratic,  might  put  one  out  a  good  deal,  and  people 
like  you  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  deal  with;  still — " 
here  she  dimpled  all  over — ' '  come !  let  us  race  down  the 
hill,  and  then  we  can  be  waiting  tea  for  him  when  he 
turns  up." 

But  there  was  no  tea  ready  when  Ned,  whose  ill  hu- 
mour had  passed  with  his  solitary  walk,  arrived. 

"  Thank  Heaven!  "  cried  Ted,  who  met  him  at  the 
door.  "  Will  you,  like  a  good  fellow,  fetch  the  doctor; 
he  lives  beyond  the  hill  ?  Mr.  Smith  is  ill,  as  he  was  be- 
fore.   You  can  take  the  motor,  can 't  you,  from  Dinas  1  ' ' 

1 '  No  need ;  Eamsay  will  be  there.  I  '11  be  back  in  no 
time,"  was  the  reply. 

So  while  Ted  helped  Martha  with  his  experience  and 
comforted  Aura  as  best  he  could,  thereinafter  remaining 
to  give  Peter  Ramsay  a  hand  in  getting  the  old  man  to 
bed,  Ned  kicked  his  heels  in  the  drawing-room.  Sickness, 
with  its  possibility  of  death,  always  made  him  a  little 
disdainful,  and  he  had  but  a  few  stereotyped  words  of 
regret  when,  the  crisis  having  passed,  the  three  came  in, 
Aura  looking  pale  and  troubled. 


172  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

"  Was  lie  as  ill  before?  "  she  asked,  her  eyes  seeking 
Ted's  almost  reproachfully. 

Ted's  sought  the  doctor's.  "  Not  quite,"  replied  the 
latter.  "  These  attacks — it  is  as  well  to  be  prepared  for 
them,  Miss  Graham — tend  to  become  more  serious.  He 
may  not,  I  hope  he  will  not,  have  another  for  a  long 
time,  but  you  must  try  and  avoid  any  excitement."  He 
held  out  his  hand  to  say  good-bye.  ' '  There 's  no  reason 
to  be  alarmed,  I  assure  you ;  with  care,  he  may  not  have 
another  for — for  months." 

He  cjasped  the  girl's  hand  with  strong,  steady  grip 
and  smiled,  but  poor  Aura,  facing  the  one  great  reality 
for  the  first  time,  stood  white  and  silent.  Only  when  they 
had  gone,  she  turned  to  Ted. 

"  I  don't  know  what  I  should  have  done  without  you," 
she  said  gratefully. 

Outside,  as  the  motor  disappeared  in  the  darkness,  Dr. 
Ramsay  was  saying  nearly  the  same  thing. 

"  It  is  lucky  Cruttenden  was  there  and  had  an  idea 
of  what  to  do ;  lucky  too  that  I  didn  't  give  you  up  and 
go  home." 

"  Sorry,"  responded  Ned  shortly.  "  Hope  you  had  a 
good  walk." 

' '  Excellent, "  replied  Peter  Ramsay  with  a  little  laugh. 
"  I  satisfied  myself  that  hills  and  dales,  and  the  round 
world  generally,  were  mere  manifestations  of  matter,  and 
the  Providence  didn't  shape  my  steps  anyhow." 


CHAPTER   XV 

Since  the  night  on  which  poor  Morris  Pugh  had  sought 
in  vain  for  God's  Providence  upon  the  mountain-top, 
he  had  not  left  his  room ;  for  rheumatic  fever — that  curse 
of  Wales — had  laid  hold  of  him. 

The  mental  shock  also  militated  against  recovery.  It 
would  be  almost  impossible  to  overestimate  what  that 
shock  had  been,  surcharged  as  he  was  by  religious  exal- 
tation. He  had  been  dashed  from  high  heaven  to  earth, 
and  at  first  he  lay  stunned,  absolutely  maimed.  Then,  as 
feeling  returned  to  his  numb  mind,  the  desire  to  slip 
away  and  so  avoid  the  necessity  for  thought  was  the  de- 
spair of  his  mother,  who  had  come  from  the  lonely  hill- 
farm,  where  she  still  was  mistress,  to  be  his  devoted  nurse. 
She  was  a  woman  of  the  true  saintly  type,  full  to  the 
brim  of  sympathies  and  sentimentalities;  as  such,  not 
one  to  be  burdened  with  the  reality  of  doubt. 

By  degrees,  however,  chaos  became  order.  The  fiat, 
* '  Let  there  be  light, ' '  went  forth,  and  Morris  Pugh,  en- 
thusiast by  nature,  began  to  creep  towards  it.  What  al- 
though the  so-called  miracles  in  which  he  and  many 
others  had  believed  were  unreal,  that  could  not  be  said 
of  the  effects  of  the  revival.  They  were  everywhere 
manifest,  abundantly  real.  Thousands  hitherto  spirit- 
ually blind  were  now  with  open  eyes  following  the 
straight  and  narrow  way.  Oh !  there  was  proof  enough  to 
show  what  Power  was  at  work.  As  the  Reverend  Hwf  a 
Williams  had  said  (he  found  such  small  jests  no  incon- 
siderable aid  in  his  rough  and  ready  missioning),  there 
was  proof  enough  for  every  Thomas  in  Wales. 

And  there  was  more  work  to  be  done ;  so  what  mattered 
it  whether  he,  Morris  Pugh,  the  man  to  do  it,  rose  or  did 

173 


174  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

not  rise  to  the  height  of  sublime  folly  which  had  been  his 
once?  There  was  work  to  be  done  and  he  must  do  it. 
So  on  the  last  day  of  the  old  year,  after  a  week 's  change 
at  Aberystwith,  he  returned,  eager  for  the  big  revival 
meeting  which  was  to  see  the  New  Year  in.  It  was  to  be 
a  great  occasion,  for  Merv,  Gwen,  and  Alicia  Edwards 
were  back  for  a  Christinas  holiday  from  their  arduous 
labour  abroad.  Their  presence  in  the  little  village  must 
surely  awaken  the  few  sleepers  that  remained;  these 
would  be  gathered  in,  their  names  added  to  the  already 
long  list  of  the  elect.  Even  Myfanwy  Jones  who,  as 
usual,  had  come  down  for  a  long  week-end  laden  with 
bandboxes,  might  follow  the  example  of  her  father  and 
come  into  the  ranks  of  the  saved. 

That  would  be  great  gain,  for  though  Myfanwy,  being 
well-to-do,  might  dress  as  she  pleased,  the  influence  of 
that  dress  was  not  benign  on  poorer  girls.  And  there 
were  so  many  points  besides  drunkenness  and  open  im- 
morality which  the  undoubted  increase  of  faith  did  not 
seem  to  touch.  David  Morgan  had  sold  his  mare  at  Wrex- 
ham for  five-and-twenty  pounds.  An  open  market  truly, 
and  it  was  a  good-looking  beast,  for  all  that  it  had  the 
staggers.  Then  the  hole  in  the  hedge,  through  which 
Evan  Kees'  sheep  were  in  the  habit  of  pushing  their 
way  to  graze  on  a  water-meadow  belonging  to  an  ab- 
sentee proprietor,  was  still  unmended. 

There  were,  in  fact,  many  things  which  to  Morris 
Pugh  's  sobered  sight  seemed  ill  advised,  while  some,  such 
as  the  midnight  meetings  held  by  mere  lads  and  lassies, 
could  not  be  defended. 

All  these  things  must  be  combated.  But  on  this  eve 
of  a  new  step  towards  Eternity  (that  quaint  Eternity 
which  apparently  has  not  yet  begun  for  the  religious)  the 
work  must  be  to  rouse  every  dead  soul  to  life. 

The  chapel  was  packed  from  floor  to  ceiling.  Taken 
simply  as  a  sight,  it  was  marvellous  to  think  of  the  sor- 
did lives  lived  from  year  to  year,  begun,  continued,  and 
ended  in  the  cult  of  the  ultimate  sixpence  (by  which 
alone  the  struggle  for  existence  could  be  maintained) 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  I75 

that  many  of  those  present  were  leading;  here,  before 
the  Lord,  they  were  at  least  seeking  a  higher  sanction. 

And  yet 

Morris  Pugh's  whole  heart  and  soul  went  out  in  one 
vivid  prayer  for  true  guidance. 

Gwen,  on  the  platform,  was  looking  dreadfully  ill. 
She  was  wasted  to  a  skeleton,  her  fever-bright  eyes 
seemed  larger  than  ever,  but  they  were  steadier,  and  her 
voice  was  even  sweeter,  despite  the  hollow  hacking  cough 
which  assailed  her  at  all  times,  save  when  she  was  singing. 

Those  same  eyes  of  hers  had  learned  the  trick  of  fasten- 
ing themselves  on  one  face;  but  so  had  the  eyes  of  all 
these  practised  missioners,  and  even  Abel  Parry,  who 
was  taking  Hwfa  Williams'  part  as  bass,  looked  out 
steadily,  earnestly. 

Myfanwy  Jones  felt  the  thrill  of  this,  though  she  was 
conscious  that  much  of  her  physical  sense  of  strain  arose 
from  the  presence  of  Mervyn  Pugh. 

How  very  handsome  he  was,  and  what  a  gentleman 
he  looked  after  his  three  months  of  touring  about  the 
country ! 

In  truth  he  had  changed.  He  was  finer,  more  complex ; 
for  it  had  been  impossible  to  lead  the  old  simple  village 
life  in  the  hotels  and  boarding-houses  where  he  had 
lodged.  He  was  different  in  every  way,  and  in  becoming 
different  he  had  almost  forgotten  his  past  self.  Even 
the  mental  emotion  of  his  first  association  with  Gwen  in 
this  work  of  salvation  had  passed;  he  took  it  now  as  a 
matter  of  course.  For  the  rest,  seeing  his  way  clear,  and 
urged  thereto  by  those  who  had  heard  him  speak,  he 
had  almost  made  up  his  mind  to  the  ministry. 

Yet  not  quite  so;  and  the  sight  of  Myfanwy  'Jones 
robed  in  black  samite,  mystic,  wonderful,  in  the  very  first 
row,  roused  recollections,  almost  regrets. 

For  there  had  been  no  harm  in  their  holiday  junket- 
ing at  Blackborough ;  they  had  only  enjoyed  themselves 
immensely. 

A  sense  of  something  electrical  in  the  air  disturbed  him 
from  recollections  of  a  man  in  a  music  hall,  who  had  ven- 


176  4    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

tured  to  comment  on  his  companion's  beauty,  and  he 
became  conscious  that  Gwen  and  Alicia  Edwards  were 
both  looking  at  him.  There  was  a  whole  world  of  differ- 
ence in  the  meaning  of  these  looks,  but  Mervyn  lumped 
them  together  as  a  control  to  his  wandering  thoughts. 

He  need  not  have  felt  that  sudden  sense  of  guilt  so 
far  as  poor  Gwen  was  concerned.  Her  limited  mind 
had  long  since  relegated  the  stormy  past  to  the  Devil. 
She  shuddered  at  the  thought  of  it,  as  she  shuddered  at 
the  thought  of  Him. 

But  Mervyn  was  a  soul  which,  mysteriously,  she  had 
saved. 

In  a  measure  this  was  true.  All  unknown  to  herself, 
she  was  largely  responsible  for  the  outburst  of  spiritual 
energy  around  her.  There  was  that  in  her  which,  given 
freely  as  she  gave  it,  without  measure  and  without  stint, 
was  bound  to  force  response.  And  to-night,  wearied 
utterly,  yet  elated,  singing  against  the  doctor's  orders, 
racked  by  a  terrible  pain  when  she  drew  her  breath,  she 
was  at  the  flood-tide  of  her  potentiality ;  and  she  knew  it. 

Beside  this — the  joy  and  rapture  of  the  stigmatic — 
Alicia  Edwards'  jealousy  of  Myfanwy  was  trivial  in- 
deed. But  though  much  that  was  trivial  lingered  in 
the  minds  of  many  in  the  chapel,  there  was  a  deadly 
earnestness  in  most  of  the  faces  which  looked  up  to  the 
missioners,  almost  as  they  might  have  looked  at  a  verita- 
ble transfiguration  of  their  Lord. 

The  toilworn,  the  smug,  the  rugged,  the  sensuous,  the 
clever,  on  all  these  lay  a  supreme  desire,  yet  a  supreme 
content.  Briefly,  they  had  what  they  wanted,  yet  they 
wanted  something  more.    What  ? 

An  analysis  of  the  minds  of  most  would,  no  doubt, 
have  yielded  a  large  percentage  of  purely  personal  sense 
of  salvation,  but  there  was  more  than  that  in  the  whole 
atmosphere  of  the  little  chapel  as  Morris  Pugh  stood  up 
to  give  his  first  address  since  his  vigil  upon  the  moun- 
tain. What  it  was,  who  can  say?  Call  it  the  Spirit  of 
God,  call  it  anything  you  please,  all  explanations  resolve 
themselves  into  a  still  further  away,  ' '  What  is  it  ?  " 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  177 

Now,  all  those  days  and  nights  of  mental  and  physical 
torture  through  which  Morris  Pugh  had  passed,  had  left 
their  unfailing  mark  on  him.  Before  he  could  even 
creep  back  into  the  old  straight  way,  it  had  been  neces- 
sary for  him  to  acknowledge  that  he  had  been  at  fault 
in  seeking  to  dictate  to  the  Greater  "Wisdom,  in  looking 
for  a  sign,  when  no  sign  would  be  given.  It  had  been  a 
bitter  struggle  for  him  to  lay  down  these,  his  highest 
hopes,  but  he  had  laid  them  down,  and  he  stood  before 
his  people  humbled,  patient,  almost  wistful. 

But  they  were  not  attuned  to  this  mood ;  so  as  he  spoke, 
the  electricity — the  something — in  the  air  failed,  and 
silence  passed  to  faint  shiftings,  to  louder  shufflings. 
Practised  speaker  as  he  was,  he  realised  at  once  that  he 
was  not,  as  usual,  holding  his  audience.  With  an  almost 
convulsive  inward  prayer  for  guidance,  he  modulated  his 
voice  into  the  bardic  "  hwl,"  that  marvellous  maker  of 
emotion  amongst  the  Welsh. 

A  cough  ?  Yes !  a  distinct  cough !  followed  by  another 
and  another ! 

Mervyn  looked  anxiously  at  his  brother.  This  would 
never  do !  Experience  told  him  that  the  unknown  force 
on  which  the  professional  missioner  relies  was  oozing 
away,  so  without  more  ado,  he  gave  the  signal  to  Gwen, 
and  straightway  a  hymn,  softly,  persuasively,  sung  in 
the  perfect  harmony  of  four  exquisite  voices,  arrested 
the  wavering  attention  of  the  crowded  chapel. 

Emotionally  musical  to  the  w'th  degree,  the  audience 
needed  no  more.  In  an  instant  the  atmosphere  changed 
and,  as  Morris  Pugh  resumed  his  seat,  the  waves 
of  sweet  sound  seemed  to  stun  him  with  a  sense  of 
failure. 

Verse  after  verse,  those  waves  grew  to  almost  tumul- 
tuous chorus,  seeming  to  monopolise  with  their  vibra- 
tion even  the  small  amount  of  stifling  air  left  to  each 
pair  of  human  lungs.  So  through  that  human  chorus, 
half-drowned  by  the  glad  summons  to  Eternity,  came 
the  passing  of  Time  as  the  church  clock  struck — 

Twelve ! ! 


17g  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

The  sound  stilled  the  singing  for  a  second,  and  Mer- 
vyn,  a  genius  in  emotion,  seized  on  the  propitious  mo- 
ment. 

"  Let  us  pray!  "  he  cried,  falling  on  his  knees,  "  let 
us  pray  for  our  brothers  and  sisters  who  are  still  in 
bondage!  " 

Without  an  instant's  hesitation  the  congregation  of 
the  elect  followed  suit,  leaving  the  few  standing,  uncer- 
tain. Amongst  them,  Myf  anwy  Jones.  Her  face  showed 
a  sudden  fear,  not  unmixed  with  resentment;  but  Mer- 
vyn  had  leapt  from  the  platform  and  was  beside  her, 
his  face  brilliant,  ere  she  could  decide  on  either. 

"  Do  not  go!  "  he  whispered  passionately.  "  Listen! 
The  door  is  open — we  wait  for  you!  we  want  you,  My- 
fanwy!  " 

The  girl  turned  to  him.  A  faint  tremor  showed  in  her 
full,  lithe  figure;  her  lip  trembled.  Another  moment 
and  she  would  have  given  way,  but  that  moment  brought 
another  factor  to  the  equation  of  assent. 

"  Yes!  We  want  you,  Myf  anwy!  We  wait  for 
you!  " 

It  was  a  girPs  voice,  and  Myf  anwy  flashed  round  on 
it  superbly  self-possessed.  "  Thank  you  much,  Alicia 
Edwards,"  she  said  in  clear  tones,  "  but  there  is  no  need 
for  you  to  wait  at  all.    I  am  going !  " 

And  go  she  did,  with  her  head  held  high,  a  sphinx- 
like calm  of  malice  in  her  face,  the  frou-frou  of  her  silken 
skirts  heard  above  the  sudden  silence  which  fell  upon  the 
chapel. 

It  had  needed  but  this  example  to  make  other  hesitants 
follow.  The  congregation,  taken  aback,  looked  for  guid- 
ance and  got  it  from  Gwen. 

' '  I  will  not  let  thee  go !  "  she  chanted  in  still  clearer, 
higher  tones  as  she  threw  out  her  hands  to  those  retreat- 
ing souls.  l '  Yea,  I  will  not  let  thee  go,  except  thou  bless 
me.  Where  thou  goest  I  will  go.  Thy  God  shall  be  my 
God!    Follow!    Follow!  " 

The  cry  was  caught  up  readily,  as  all  her  cries  were, 
when  as  now,  her  nervous  equilibrium  was  disturbed.    So 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  179 

on  the  heels  of  the  retreating  few,  the  many  swept  out 
into  the  chill,  frost-bound  moonlit  night. 

The  utter  peace  of  it,  its  cold  indifference,  disturbed 
by  no  questionings,  struck  like  a  knife  to  Morris  Pugh's 
heart  as  he  followed  also,  uncertain  whether  to  accom- 
pany his  flock  on  their  midnight  visitations,  or  go  home 
to  pray  in  secret  for  the  salvation  of  sinners. 

He  chose  the  latter,  and  as  he  closed  the  door  of  his 
room  the  rousing  chorus  of  a  revival  hymn  echoed  out 
under  the  stars  of  heaven,  making  him  think  sadly,  how 
far  away  these  were,  for  all  their  brightness. 

They  seemed  so  also  to  Aura,  who  at  that  moment — 
looking  as  if  she  might  have  stood  as  illustration  to  Keats ' 
* '  St.  Agnes '  Eve  ' ' — was  standing  at  her  window  in  the 
moonlight.  Four  days  had  passed  since  her  grand- 
father's sudden  fainting  fit,  and  he  was  quite  himself 
again.  He  had  even  been  able  to  see  Mr.  Hirsch,  who 
had  called  in  his  motor ;  and  Peter  Ramsay,  after  delay- 
ing his  departure  a  day  or  two,  had  left.  There  was 
nothing  more  to  be  feared  for  the  present;  and  for  the 
future,  a  peaceful,  unemotional  life  was  all  that  was  re- 
quired. So  well,  in  fact,  was  he  that  Ted  had  obeyed  an 
urgent  summons  from  Mr.  Hirsch,  and,  much  against  his 
will  on  this  last  night  of  the  Old  Year,  had  gone  over 
to  him  at  Aberaf on.  It  was  a  bore,  he  felt ;  and  yet  the 
last  few  days  of  closer  companionship  with  Aura,  of  her 
natural  inevitable  reliance  on  him,  had  made  him  leave 
her  with  a  lighter  heart. 

"  You  will  be  sure  and  come  home  to-morrow,"  she 
had  said,  and  the  word  "  home  "  had  brought  a  great 
tenderness  in  his  reply,  "  Of  course,  I  shall  be  sure." 

She  felt  glad  of  the  assurance  as  she  stood  there  look- 
ing out  on  the  hill-side,  where  everything  in  the  mid- 
night moonlight  seemed  as  if  carven  out  of  stone;  for 
her  grandfather  had  been  captious  that  evening,  abso- 
lutely refusing  to  give  up  his  annual  habit  of  sitting 
up  to  see  the  New  Year  in.  And  he  had  been  annoyed  at 
Parkinson,  the  parlour-maid's,  failure  to  appear,  when, 
as  the  clock  struck  twelve,  the  personnel  of  the  establish- 


IgQ  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

ment  were  expected  to  wish  and  be  wished  long  life  and 
prosperity. 

"  Gone  to  a  revival  meeting/'  he  had  echoed  queru- 
lously, "  a  singularly  inadequate  excuse!  She  might 
have  read  her  Bible  at  home ;  but  I  will  speak  to  her  to- 
morrow. ' ' 

To  which  Martha  had  replied  austerely,  "  It  ain't  no 
good  speaken',  sir;  I've  spoke  till  I'm  dumb.  And  it 
ain't  her  Bible  she's  wantin',  but  'er  best  'at;  for  she's 
that  frivolous  at  forty  in  the  dry,  as  beats  me  wot  she 
must  'a  bin'  in  the  green.  An'  Bate  'ud  a'  gone  too — 
oh  yes !  yer  wu'd  Bate,  so  it  ain't  no  good  speakin' — only 
I  told  'im  plain.  '  Bate,'  says  I,  '  you  know  as  you're 
a  deal  too  light- 'earted  to  go  cadgin'  about  with  a  'orse 
and  cart  when  there's  liquor  'andy,  an'  that  ain't  in  it 
for  temptation  with  a  midnight  meetin '  with  the  likes  o ' 
her  for  company,  as  makes  me  sick  to  cook  for  'em.  An ' 
what  is  the  shine  in  them  hot  stuffy  revivals  beats  me. 
I  wouldn't  go  to  one  of  'em.  No!  Not  if  I  was  'anged 
for  it.    I'd  just  say  to  the  cart,  Drive  on !  '  " 

The  dramatic  finale  had  made  Aura  laugh.  She  smiled 
at  the  remembrance  of  it  now;  but  then  she  smiled 
at  the  remembrance  of  many  things  in  the  last  four 
days. 

How  kind  the  world  had  been  to  her ! 

A  faint  clatter  in  the  back  premises  made  her  smile 
again.  Martha  must  be  waiting  up  till  the  light  had 
gone  from  her  room  in  order  to  play  that  ridiculous  game 
with  stockings  on  which  Ned  had  insisted  on  this  New 
Year 's  Day,  which  was  her  birthday  also. 

Oh !  How  kind  they  had  all  been.  She  could  not  spare 
one  of  them. 

She  blew  out  the  light,  and  the  pulsing  of  the  stars 
seemed  to  find  an  echo  in  the  pulsing  of  her  heart.  Sud- 
denly she  leant  out  to  stretch  her  warm  young  hands  into 
the  frosty  air,  over  the  flower  graves  in  the  garden,  over 
the  whole  wide  glistening  world. 

"A  Happy  New  Year  to  you  all,  dear  people,"  she 
whispered.     "  Such  a  Happy  New  Year!  " 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  181 

Five  minutes  after,  having  smiled  drowsily  at  the 
sound  of  Martha's  stealthy  footsteps  outside  her  door, 
she  was  asleep,  to  wake  again,  however,  as  the  birds  wake 
in  winter,  long  before  the  lingering  dawn. 

The  moon  was  hanging  like  a  silver  shield  before  the 
window  and  sent  a  flood  of  light  into  the  room,  but  far 
away  in  the  east  on  the  edge  of  the  hill  there  was  just  that 
faint  paling  of  the  sky  which  tells  that  when  the  sun  rises 
it  will  rise  there. 

Dawn  or  no  dawn  she  was  broad  awake,  and  the  next 
instant  stood  by  her  open  door. 

There  was  the  stocking,  crammed  full,  as  Ned  had 
threatened,  with  chocolate  creams,  and  a  pile  of  parcels 
on  the  floor.  She  picked  them  up,  and  putting  them 
in  the  warm  nest  she  had  just  left,  began  to  undo  them 
by  the  light  of  the  moon.  What  had  they  given  her, 
these  kind  people? 

A  white  chiffon  motor  veil !  That  must  be  from  Mrs. 
Tressilian,  who  had  raised  an  outcry  against  a  scarf  of 
Mechlin  being  used  to  such  shallow  purpose.  A  silver 
ring  tray,  set  round  with  every  conceivable  coin  of  the 
realm !  She  did  not  need  the  card  slipped  into  the  red 
morocco  case  to  tell  her  this  was  from  Mr.  Hirsch.  A 
D00k — her  heart  gave  an  answering  throb  to  the  starshine 
—was  from  Ted.  He  had  promised  her  a  Shelley  .^  And 
this,  what  was  it?  It  must  be  the  semi-surgical  instru- 
ment for  pruning  roses,  of  which  Dr.  Ramsay  had  told 
her. 

And  that  was  all,  for  neither  Martha  nor  her  grand- 
father would  give  in  to  stockings. 

Yes,  it  was  all.  Another  half-ashamed  feel  over  the 
darkling  floor  of  the  passage  assured  her  of  this,  and  she 
turned  to  the  Shelley.  Even  if  Ned  had  considered  the 
chocolate  creams  sufficient,  she  had  this.  Now  she  could 
read  the  context  to  the  lines  which  Ned — yes !  it  was  Ned 
— had  quoted: 

'  Time  like  a  many-coloured  glass 
Stains  the  white  radiance  of  eternity.' 


182  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

It  was  lighter  at  the  window,  she  passed  to  it,  and  lean- 
ing the  heavy  volume  on  the  sill,  knelt  down  to  search 
for  the  "Adonais." 

But  she  turned  no  pages.  For  there,  outside  on  the 
window-ledge,  broad-faced,  clear,  open-eyed,  an  iris  alata 
stared  up  at  her  from  its  carpet  of  saxifrage. 

"  The  most  beautiful  thing!  " 

Yes !  that  was  it — and  he  had  given  it  to  her 

The  poetry  which  another  man  had  written  slipped  to 
the  floor  unheeded.  She  was  absorbed  in  what  this  man 
had  brought  her. 

She  knelt  quite  still  for  a  time,  her  hands  slightly 
clasped,  feeling  dazed  at  something  in  herself  which  re- 
sponded— which  gave  back — what? 

What  was  the  over-mastering  desire  to  crush  the  un- 
conscious flower  to  death  with  her  kisses. 

She  rose  suddenly  and  began  with  haste  to  dress  her- 
self. She  must  climb  the  mountain-tops,  as  she  so  often 
did  in  the  dawn  light,  and  find  some  answer. 

As  she  slipped  silently  through  the  house,  she  paused 
once  or  twice  wondering  if  she  heard  something.  No! 
her  granf ather  's  room  was  quite  quiet ;  but  once  in  the 
hall  the  sound  became  indubitable. 

Some  one  was  singing  outside.  Singing  softly  it  is 
true,  but  still  singing.  The  village  children,  no  doubt ; 
but  they  must  be  stopped — they  must  not  disturb  her 
grandfather. 

The  next  instant  she  stood  looking  with  amazed  anger 
at  a  group  of  five  people  who,  kneeling  on  the  ground, 
were  singing  under  their  breath  some  wild  Welsh  hymn 
which  rose  and  fell  plaintively,  persistently.  One  of 
these  figures  she  recognised.  It  was  the  parlour-maid, 
Parkinson;  this  must,  therefore,  be  the  tail-end  of  the 
revival  meeting,  for  she  had  heard  that  such  visitations 
were  not  uncommon. 

' '  Parkinson !  "she  called  severely,  her  young  blood  in 
arms  at  the  intrusion.  "  What  are  you  doing  there? 
Get  up  at  once  and  go  into  the  house." 

Parkinson,  whose  prim  face  was  blurred  with  tears, 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  183 

whose  hat  was  awry,  whose  whole  appearance  betokened 
a  stormy  night  of  emotion,  made  a  protest  that  this  was 
an  appointed  time. 

"  Yes!  "  retorted  Aura,  with  a  swift  stamp  of  her 
foot,  "  the  appointed  time  for  doing  your  work!  Go! 
and  clean  the  silver— it  wants  it— you  foolish  woman- 
go!  " 

The  foolish  woman  rose  and  sneaked  away,  leaving 
Aura  to  face  the  remaining  enthusiasts  who  had  com- 
bined the  seeing  of  the  new  convert  home  with  the  sing- 
ing of  a  hymn  at  this  stronghold  of  the  Devil. 

Until  he  felt  Aura's  clear  eyes  upon  him,  Mervyn 
Pugh  had  not  remembered  the  possibility  of  recogni- 
tion. It  may  be,  indeed,  that  he  scarcely  knew  who  the 
girl  was  whom  he  had  once  mistaken  for  Gwen.  But 
now  at  her  first  glance  he  knew  all  too  well. 

"  So  it  is  you!  "  she  said  slowly,  as  he  rose,  and  feel- 
ing that  his  best  chance  lay  in  boldness,  ^  faced  her. 
"  Why — why  have  you  dared  to  come  here?  ': 

"  To  plead— to  pray  for  you,"  he  began,  but  was 
stopped  by  the  fire,  the  scorn  of  her. 

"  You  dare  to  pray  for  me— you— you  coward!  Yes! 
I  called  it  you  once.  I  call  you  it  again.  Coward !  And 
you  too,  Gwen,"  she  continued,  for  warned  by  something 
in  the  youthful  accusing  voice,  Mervyn 's  fellow  in  the 
past  had  risen  also,  and  with  large  fever-bright  eyes  was 
eagerly  scanning  their  faces  in  the  hope  of  understand- 
ing what  her  limited  knowledge  of  English  did  not  al- 
low her  to  follow.  Then  suddenly  the  sight  of  the  poor 
wasted  body,  the  recognition  of  the  poor  distraught  soul, 
overbore  Aura's  anger,  and  she  stretched  out  her  hands 
passionately,  "  Oh,  Gwen!  Gwen,  my  dear,"  she  cried, 
"  Go  home  and  forget  all  this.  Go  home  and  lay  flowers 
on  your  dead  child's  grave,  and  think  of  it  and  pray 
that  he,  its  father,  may  be  forgiven  his  cowardice." 

A  little  startled  cry  came  from  Alicia  Edwards.  Abel 
Parry  sang  on  ignorant  of  English. 

Gwen  looked  at  Aura,  then  at  Mervyn,  giving  to  each 
the  same  slow  patient  smile  of  forgetful  forgiveness. 


184  A-    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

And  then  in  that  high  piercingly  sweet  voice  of  hers, 
she  began  in  its  Welsh  version  the  hymn  which  had  her- 
alded her  spiritual  mission : 

f  Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea; 
Save  that  Thy  blood  was  shed  for  me ' 

She  paused,  arrested  by  a  little  soft  cough.  Then  with 
a  strange  look  in  her  wTide  wistful  eyes  she  sank  to  her 
knees  and  stretched  out  her  hands  blindly,  "  Merve — 

Merve-fach— Merve  anwl  y "     The  rest  was  lost  in 

the  gurgle  of  the  blood  which  poured  from  her  mouth. 

Aura  was  beside  her  in  a  moment.  "  Don't  raise  her 
— her  head  on  my  knee  so — Call  Martha — you,  man — 
don't  stand  gaping — And  you,  woman,  unfasten  her 
dress — that  is  better." 

It  seemed  an  interminable  time,  though  Martha  was 
already  up  and  dressed,  ere  Aura  saw  her  running  from 
the  back;  and  all  that  time,  the  stain  on  Aura's  white 
dress  grew  larger  and  larger. 

"  Lord  sakes,"  muttered  Martha.  "A  blood  vessel! 
This  comes  of  making  free  and  she  not  fit — Parkinson  ' ' 
— for  the  parlour-maid  had  followed — "  you  run  for 
your  turpentine,  without  the  bees '-wax,  there's  a  dear— 
you  sit  as  you  be  Miss  H'Aura,  and  you  there,  what's 
your  name,  them  icicles.    We  must  stop  it — if  we  can." 

There  was  an  ominous  ring  in  the  last  words,  and  it 
was  not  long  ere  Aura's  face  blanched  almost  as  white  as 
the  one  upon  her  lap,  as  she  realized  that  if  the  life  blood 
was  slacking,  it  was  because  the  tide  of  life  itself  was 
ebbing. 

This  was  death.  She  had  never  stood  close  to  it  be- 
fore. Her  young  eyes  looked  fearfully  through  the  hush 
of  life  to  the  unknown. 

So  the  minutes  sped.  Alicia  Edwards  gave  a  sigh  of 
satisfaction,  for  the  bleeding  had  ceased,  but  Aura,  feel- 
ing the  faint  death  tremor  which  re-unites  the  vibration 
of  life  to  the  vibration  of  the  star-shine,  looked  up,  her 
fear  gone  in  grave  wonder. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  185 

"  I  think/ '  she  said  softly,  "  she  is  dead." 

"  Go  you  into  the  house,  my  darlin',  an'  change  that 

there  poor  dress,  I  '11  manage  now, ' '  choked  Martha,  ever 

ready  with  her  tears. 

Aura  looked  down  with  a  faint  shiver  at  the  crimson 

stain.    So  that  was  the  end  of  love. 


CHAPTER    XVI 

It  was  not  more  than  six  hours  ago  that  Aura  had  looked 
at  Ned's  iris,  had  sat  in  the  dawn  with  Gwen's  head  in 
her  lap,  yet  it  seemed  to  the  girl  who  had  never  seen  death 
before,  who  had  never  before  realised  what  Love  meant, 
as  if  whole  aeons  had  passed  over  her  head.  In  truth 
they  had ;  for  Love  and  Death  make  up  Life,  since  Birth 
comes  to  us  without  remembrance. 

The  morning  had  passed  by  in  dizzy  haste.  There 
had  been  much  to  do,  and  do  quickly,  so  that  her  grand- 
father should  not  be  disturbed  by  even  knowing  of  the 
tragedy.  This  was  the  more  easy  of  compass,  seeing  that 
since  his  last  seizure  he  had  not  been  coming  downstairs 
till  late.  So,  ere  he  appeared,  there  had  been  time  for 
folk  to  come  and  go,  time  even  for  old  Adam  to  rake  over 
the  gravel  disturbed  by  so  many  feet.  There  was  no 
trace,  in  fact,  of  what  had  happened  when  Aura  passed 
by  the  spot  on  her  way  to  the  hills.  Parkinson 's  persist- 
ent hysterics  had  been  the  most  troublesome  factor  in  the 
problem  of  concealment,  but  Martha  had  at  last,  losing 
patience,  locked  her  away  in  one  of  the  cottage  bedrooms, 
and  left  her  there  with  the  callous  remark,  ' '  She  11  come 
round  by  herself,  and  if  she  don 't,  'oo  cares  ?  ' ' 

Who,  indeed,  did  care  about  anything?  Martha  and 
Adam  went  about  their  work  as  usual ;  her  grandfather 
knew  nothing ;  even  Ted  was  away. 

Aura  felt  terribly  lonely  for  the  first  time  in  her  life ; 
the  more  so  because  it  seemed  to  her  as  if  part  of  her 
very  self  had  rebelled  against  that  other  self  which,  for 
one-and-twenty  years,  had  lived  such  a  frank,  clear  life. 
For  all  those  years  she  had  carried  no  burden ;  but  now 
Love  and  Death  claimed  to  come  with  her.     She  could 

186 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  187 

not  separate  them  even  in  her  thoughts.  One  seemed  to 
her  destruction  of  the  body,  the  other  destruction  of  the 
mind. 

So  when  leisure  became  hers  at  last  she  took  up  the 
thread  of  life  where  it  had  been  broken  by  the  intrusion 
into  it  of  Gwen's  death,  and  started  to  climb  the  hills, 
as  she  would  have  done  at  dawn.  It  was  her  natural 
instinct  always.  Other  girls  might  shut  themselves  up 
in  their  rooms  to  think,  might  sit  with  their  feet  on 
the  fender  and  dream.  She  had  to  go  out,  to  feel  the 
fresh  breeze  on  her  face,  before  her  mind  would  work  at 
all. 

As  she  sat  on  the  rocky  sheep  shelter,  whither  her  feet 
had  taken  her  almost  unconsciously,  since  it  was  her 
favourite  outlook,  the  winter  sun  beat  down  on  her 
fiercely,  warming  her  through  to  the  heart.  She  could 
feel  her  very  veins  pulsing ;  their  rhythm  seemed  almost 
to  sing  in  her  ears. 

How  warm  it  was !  but  in  the  shadows  behind  the  big 
boulders — ay!  and  in  the  tiny  shade  of  each  blade  of 
grass,  each  twig  of  bracken,  the  frost  still  lingered  white, 
for  the  air  was  f reeezing. 

Sunshine  and  frost !    Fire  and  ice ! 

That  was  exactly  what  she  felt  like  herself !  She  was 
half  fire,  half  ice ;  for  a  fierce  virginity  of  mind  fought 
desperately  against  the  intrusion  of  that  glad  new  im- 
pulse of  self-surrender  she  had  felt  when  she  saw  Ned's 
iris. 

That,  she  supposed,  was  Love ;  but  what  was  that  sort 
of  love  worth  if  it  brought  death  with  it  to — to  herself 
— to  her  mind? 

She  felt  indescribably  smirched  and  stained.  As  she 
glanced  at  the  fresh  white  serge  skirt  she  was  wearing 
she  seemed  to  see  on  it  still  that  crimson  blood.  It  was 
horrible !  It  would  be  there  always  for  her,  scarlet  as  sin, 
no  matter  how  white  as  wool  it  seemed  to  others. 

Poor  Gwen !  That  was  the  end  of  it  all.  She  had,  no 
doubt,  yielded  to  Love.  Had  she  had  any  terror  of  it 
at  first  f    Had  she  also  felt  the  degradation  of  it  ? 


ISS  I    SOVEREIGN    RE  MED  J 

So,  as  she  sat,  more  dreaming  than  thinking,  a  voice 
called  her.    She  Btarted  to  her  feet,  remembering  in  a 
flash  iit.it  other  man's  voice  which  had  called  "  Qwen 
m  that  very  place    the  man  whom  she  had  oalled  coward 

whom  she  had  smitten  with  the  lily  she  held, 

it  was  qoI  an  opportune  moment  for  NVd  Blaokbor- 
ough,  who.  h: .  me  over  to  Cwmfaeraog  with  con 

gratulations,  had,  after  hearing  from  Martha  of  the  trag 
edy,  followed  the  girl  straight  to  her  favourite  outlook 
with  the  sort  of  instinctive  knowledge  of  what  she  would 
do,  which  he  had  always  seemed  to  possess,  At  the  pres- 
ent moment  this  was  m  itself  an  offence  to  Aura.  What 
right  had  he  to  pry  into  her  mind  I 

What  is  wrong  1  "  he  asked,  checked  in  his  quick 
sympathy  by  the  expression  on  her  face,     Another  of 
fence,  since  what  right  had  he  to  know  anything  was 
w  roa 

Nothing,'1  she  answered  curtly;  "  only  I  came  here 
(or  quiet  and  it  seems  as  if  I  am  not  to  have  it !  " 

He  stared  at  her  for  a  second;  then,  with  a  shrug  of 
the  shoulders,  turned  to  go,  thereby  bringing  to  her  a 
pan;r  o(  remorse;  since  when  had  ho  not  been  courteous, 
not  been  kind  I 

His  quick  return,  therefore,  and  the  reckless  obstinacy 
which  showed  on  ins  face  relieved  her, 

A  cat  may  Look  at  a  king,  Miss  Graham,"  he  said 

Coolly,       "  1   came  to  say    l   was  sorry.      I   am.      And  as   1 

bo  see  that  your  birthday  has  any  monopoly  over 
Now  Fear's  Day,  l  will  wish  you  many  happy  returns  of 

the   latter.      May  your  temper  never  grOW    worse." 

She  had  to  smile.  The  sudden  outburst  ^i'  truth  was 
so  like  Ned  when  anything  occurred  to  ruffle  or  disar- 
range the  smooth  covering  o(  convention, 

Thank  you,"  she  replied  quite  frankly,  feeling  ouri 
ously  at  her  ease;  N  l  did  uot  mean  to  be  rude,  but 

I    know,"    he   Said    Simply,    and    paused.       And    she 
knew  so  well  that  he  knew,  that,  though  her  lip  quivered 

tor  a  second  She  said  no  more.  'There  was  no  need  to 
Bay  more. 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  ]  •<» 

It  was  bo  curious  to  have  him  ritting  there  betide  her. 
Now  that  he  had  come  all  the  trouble  had  gone;  the 
once  more  absolutely  at  her  <  ■ 

"  And  thanks  also  for  the  iris,"  she  said  after  a  pi 
feeling  glad  to  escape  from  the  tragedies  of  Jif'o.     '  It 
is  jolly;  but  J  wish  you  hadn't  dug  the  poor  thing  up." 

"  i  did  not  dig  it  up,"  he  replied  coolly. 

"  You  didn't— then  how " 

"  J  wired  to  Covent  Garden  for  another,  and  it  came 
down  hi  charge  of  such  a  superior  person  that  J  almost 
had  to  ask  him  to  dine;  so  '  the  most  beautiful  thing  in 
the  most  beautiful  place  in  the  world  '  remains  b 
the  sphinx  as  ■- --"  he  paused. 

"  As  what  I  "  she  asked. 

Jff:  had  come  half-prepared  to  speak  of  his  lore,  and 
there  was  about,  her  face  to-day  a  curious  half-forlorn 
puzzled  look  which  made  him  tee!  inclined  to  take  her 
in  his  it  away — "  As  a  remembrance  of 

you,  natural  J  y,"  he  replied. 

She  sat  down  on  the  nearest  stone  feeling  just  a  little 

dizzy,  and  clasping  her  hands  fl  d  out 

at  the  pale  blue  misty  craUey,  and  the  pale  blue  winter 
sky  beyond 

':  But  why  should  you  i      I     tmething  to  remember 
me  by1  "  she  said  slowly.    "  I  shall  always  remember 
you  without  anything/' 
Ber  freedom  from  conventional  do*  peeeh 

at  all  times  a  trii  concerting,  and  be  felt  in- 

to reply  "  That  is  rery  kind  of  you,"  or  make 
some  other  banal  remark  of  the  sort  which  might  bring 
convention   back.     Then   he  cursed  himself  for  a   low 

■    and  followed  her  on  closely  i 

could. 

"  \^-v\i.-[  nted  to  remember  the  exact  words  you 

.said,"  he  ted. 

:  But  you  do  remember  thorn." 
edlyj  "  that  is  what  I  complain  of.     You  remember 
.  little  tl  unfortable. 

1  cannot  think  why  you  should. " 


190  >   A.   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

He  took  his  fate  in  his  hand.    "  Can't  you — I  can . 

It  is  because  I  happen  to  love  you." 

She  sat  still  for  a  second,  then  turned  and  looked  at 
him  with  narrowing  eyes.  "  I  don't  see  what  that  has 
to  do  with  it !  You  knew  what  I  was  thinking  about  the 
very  first  time  we  met,  and  you  could  not  possibly  have 
been  in  love  with  me  then." 

Her  seriousness  made  him  laugh  outright.  It  was  the 
most  delicious  piece  of  comedy  to  be  sitting  there  talk- 
ing of  his  love  as  if  it  did  not  belong  to  him,  while  his 
pulses — stay!  were  they  bounding,  or  had  they  quieted 
down  to  a  curious  content  ? 

"lam  not  so  sure,"  he  replied  gravely.  "  There  is 
such  a  thing,  you  are  doubtless  aware,  as  love  at  first 
sight." 

"  Not  for  sensible  people,  and  I  think  we  are  sensible," 
she  argued  grudgingly.  "  I  know,  at  any  rate,  that  I 
was  not  in  love  with  you  for  a  long  time  afterwards. ' ' 

The  whole  world  seemed  to  spin  round  with  Ned.  .  .  . 

"  Then  you  are — oh!  my  dear,  my  dear!  "... 

"  Please  don't!  "  she  cried,  hastily  drawing  back  from 
his  outstretched  hands ;  "  I  hate  being  touched.  Besides 
that  has  nothing  to  do  with  what  I  want  to  find  out. 
Why,  from  the  very  beginning,  did  you  always  under- 
stand ?  That  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  love  .  .  .  not, 
at  least,  with  love  like  Gwen's  " — the  last  sentence  came 
thoughtfully  in  a  lower  key. 

"  But  our  love  will  be  different,  dear,"  he  said  al- 
most solemnly.  "  If  you  will  marry  me,  Aura,  I  will 
try  to  understand  to  the  very  end — so  help  me  God. ' ' 

She  smiled  at  him  brilliantly.  "  And  you  would — 
you  couldn't  help  it!  But  that  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  marry.  It  seems  to  me  we  have  mixed  things  up 
somehow.    No !  that  is  no  reason  at  all." 

"  Perhaps  not,"  he  admitted,  following  her  thought. 
"  Then  marry  me  for  some  other  reason,  my  dear." 

She  shook  her  head.  "  There  is  only  one  reason  for 
marriage, ' '  she  said,  with  a  wisdom  born  of  the  untram- 
melled teaching  of  Nature,  ' '  and  if  I  were  to  marry  you 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  191 

— I  should  be  afraid — yes,  Ned !  I  will  tell  you  the  truth 
because  you  are  certain  to  understand — I  should  be 
afraid  of  loving  you  too  much.  I — I  don't  want  to  love 
like  that." 

He  sat  bewildered,  his  passion  dying  at  the  hands  of 
truth.  Then  he  muttered,  half  to  himself,  feeling  with 
a  rush  of  shame  how  far  he  was  from  her,  how  little  he 
really  understood  her  innocence  of  evil,  i '  Heaven  knows 

why  you  should — I  am  a  miserable  beast — but .    Oh ! 

I  hope  to  God  you  would,  my  dear — I  hope  to  God  you 
would!  " 

"  Why?  "  she  asked  calmly,  and  he  had  no  answer 
ready.    So  he  harked  back  after  a  while  to  a  lower  level. 

' '  That  is  the  most  original  reason  for  refusing  a  man 
I  ever  heard, "  he  said  whimsically.  "  Have  you  any 
others  of  the  same  sort  ?  ' ' 

She  responded  instantly  to  his  mood.  "  Plenty!  "  she 
replied  cheerfully.  "  To  begin  with,  you  are  far  too 
rich.  I  am  only  just  beginning  to  realise  how  I  should 
hate  to  have  money — besides  it  is  wrong,  you  know. ' ' 

"  I  don't  know,"  he  said  dryly;  "  but  it  is  quite  easy 
to  divest  oneself  of  money.  I  never  find  the  slightest 
difficulty  in  getting  rid  of  it — so  don't  let  that  stand  in 
your  way." 

It  was  her  turn  to  laugh — a  soft,  little  laugh  with  a 
hint  of  reproof  in  it. 

"  I  don't  expect  you  do.  Ted  is  always  saying  you 
are  reckless.  Then  there  is  grandfather;  you  know  he 
doesn't  like  you  half  so  much  as  he  likes  Ted " 

"  The  deuce  he  doesn't!  "  assented  Ned,  his  sudden 
pang  of  jealousy  softened  by  his  sense  of  the  comic ; ' '  but 
you  are  surely  not  going  to  marry  Ted  in  order  to  please 
your  grandfather?  " 

She  looked  at  him  disapprovingly,  "  I  might  marry 
some  one  worse ;  Ted  is  a  dear. ' ' 

He  felt  exasperated.  ' '  Yes !  he  is  an  uncommonly  good 
fellow ;  but — you  don 't  happen  to  love  him.  And  you  do 
— at  least  I  think  you  do  " — he  felt  that  certainty  might 
overpower  his  self-control — * '  love  me. ' ' 


192  4    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

She  took  no  notice  of  this,  but  went  on  argumenta- 
tively. 

"  Then  I  don't  think  I  like  marriage  in  your  rank  of 
life.  With  a  poor  man,  and  lots  of  work  and  trouble 
and  children,  it  would  be  very  interesting ;  but — look  at 
Lady  Smith-Biggs!  I  don't  know  what  Sir  Joseph  is 
like,  of  course,  but  she  looks  as  if  she  led  a  dull  life." 
'  Very!  "  assented  Ned,  back  to  smiles  once  more. 
' '  But  I  wouldn  't,  if  I  were  you,  take  Lady  Smith-Biggs ' 

as  a  test  case;  there  are  plenty  of  marriages "  he 

paused,  feeling  it  would  be  difficult  with  Aura's  standard 
to  adduce  many  examples;  but  then  he  was  prepared 
to  chuck  everything,  and  go  forth  with  sandal  shoon 
into  the  wilderness  if  need  be.  Yes !  she  was  right.  It 
was  hardly  marriage  that  he  wanted  after  all. 

So  for  a  time  they  sat  and  looked  out  over  the  pale 
blue  mists  behind  which  the  hills  loomed  large,  seeming 
to  lose  themselves  in  the  pale  blue  sky. 

"  There  must  be  something  better,"  said  the  girl  at 
last.     "  Oh,  Ned!  there  is  something  better!  " 

"  Better  than  love,"  he  echoed;  "  perhaps  than  some 
loves ;  not  better  than  mine !  ' ' 

' '  Don 't  people  always  say  that  ?  Perhaps  he  said  it  to 
Gwen " 

"  Child !  "  he  said  swiftly,  "  don't  think  of  that— that 
was  not  love." 

"  And  it  was  not  marriage  either,"  she  replied  softly; 
"  but  what  you  mean  has  nothing  to  do  with  what  is 
called  love,  with  what  is  called  marriage — that  is  what 
I  mean  too. ' ' 

He  shook  his  head.  ' '  That  is  too  fine  for  me,  Aura !  I 
want  you.    I  am  not  satisfied  without  you. ' ' 

He  was  so  close  to  her  that  he  could  lay  his  hand  on 
hers. 

"  S — sh!  "  she  said  swiftly,  laying  her  other  hand 
on  his  so  as  to  detain  it.     ' '  Listen !  ' ' 

Just  below  them,  in  a  sheltered  corrie,  grew  a  great 
holly-tree  covered  with  berries  that  glowed  scarlet 
against  the  distant  blue.    On  its  topmost  twig,  with  flam- 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  193 

ing  breast  yellowed  by  the  exceeding  brilliance  of  those 
blood-red  berries,  a  robin  had  settled  itself  to  sing.  And 
it  sang. 

Of  what  ?  Of  the  berries  beneath  its  feet  ?  Of  its  dis- 
tant mate?  Or  out  of  the  gladness  of  its  heart  of  life 
because  of  the  Beginning  it  did  not  remember,  of  the 
End  it  did  not  know  ? 

Who  can  say  ?  but  it  sang.  And  as  it  sang  those  two  sat 
hand  in  hand,  forgetful  even  of  what  humanity  calls  love. 
Forgetful  of  all  things  except  that  they  also  were  dream- 
ing the  Dream  of  Life. 

"  Did  I  not  say  so?  "  she  cried  exultantly  when  the 
song  had  ceased.  "  Did  I  not  tell  you  there  was  some- 
thing better?  You  had  forgotten  me  and  I  had  for- 
gotten you,  yet  we  were  happy. ' ' 

"  Because  we  were  hand-clasped,' '  he  answered 
swiftly,  "  because  I  touched  you,  and  you  touched  me." 

She  drew  her  hands  away  and  a  flush  came  to  her 
face. 

"  But  don't  you  feel  afraid— as  I  do?  Don't  you 
want  to  keep  what  you  love  apart — to  keep  it  safe — even 
from  yourself?  " 

Did  he  not?  Was  it  not  only  this  which  kept  him 
back  from  taking  her  in  his  arms  and  kissing  her  to  the 
knowledge  of  what  a  man's  love  must  be. 

"  Yes!  "  he  said  unsteadily,  constrained  to  truth  by 
hers.  "  But  there  is  a  love  which  does  not  stain.  I'll 
give  it  you — if  I  can." 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  vain  regret  in  her  eyes.  "  You 
couldn't  if  we  were  married,  and  I  couldn't  anyhow.  Ah 
no,  Ned !    It  would  spoil  it  all." 

"  Spoil  what?  "  he  asked  roughly,  for  he  began  to  feel 
himself  worsted  for  the  time. 

"  The  something  better,"  she  replied  gaily,  "  let  us 
wait  for  that.  I  really  don't  want  to  marry  you,  Ned. 
I  should  hate  it.    I  knew  that  when  I  saw  your  iris." 

"  Then  I  wish  I  hadn't  climbed  up  to  put  it  on  your 
window-sill  and  wricked  my  bad  arm  into  the  bargain, 
he  said  sullenly. 


194  A-   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Her  face  grew  grave.  "  Did  you  climb  up;  that  was 
very  wrong. ' ' 

1 '  Was  it ?  "he  replied  shrugging  his  shoulders ;  ' '  but 
I'm  afraid  I'm  a  very  wrong  person  altogether.  At  the 
present  moment  I  feel  inclined  to — to — but  what  is  the 
use — you  wouldn't  understand.  Aura !  for  the  last  time, 
will  you  marry  me  ?  ' ' 

"No,  Ned,  I  won't." 

"  Then  that  ends  it,"  he  said  recklessly.  "  So  good- 
bye." 

She  paled  a  little. 

"  Must  you  go?  " 

"  One  of  us  must,"  he  replied,  caught  in  fresh  hope, 
"  unless  you  change  your  mind." 

"  That  is  impossible — but  you  will  come  back,  won't 
you?  " 

He  looked  at  her  full  of  impatience,  yet  full  of  tender- 
ness. 

"  I  believe  I  ought  to  say  that  I  won't,  but " 

Then  he  held  out  his  hand,  "I  understand — apart  from 
everything  else  in  the  world — what  this  love  of  ours — " 
her  hand  trembled  in  his  for  a  second,  ' '  means  to  us — 
both.  I  will  go  away  for — yes!  for  two  months,  and 
give  you  time  to  think.  Then  I  will  come  back.  Good- 
bye, my  dear.    I  can  only  say  it  once  more — I  love  you. ' ' 

For  an  instant  as  he  left  her  she  stood  still,  her  lip 
quivering;  then  she  called  to  him: 

' '  Come  back,  please !    I  want  to  give  you  this. ' ' 

She  held  out  the  bunch  of  winter  heliotrope  which  had 
been  fastened  in  her  coat ;  its  faint  scent  had  been  in  the 
air  as  he  had  sat  beside  her  holding  her  hand. 

It  was  too  much ;  the  passion  he  had  held  back,  not  un- 
willingly for  so  long,  mastered  him.  "  This  is  foolish- 
ness, ' '  he  cried,  striding  towards  her,  ' '  you  do  love  me 
— why  can  you  not  say  so — you  might  at  least  tell  the 
truth." 

Something  in  her  face  arrested  him. 

"  The  truth,"  she  echoed,  "  I  have  told  you  the  truth. 
I  think  I  do  love  you,  and  I  am  sorry,  and  vexed,  and 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  195 

angry."  Her  clear  eyes  were  looking  through  his  as  if 
she  could  see  into  his  innermost  thought.  "  But  I  will 
not  marry  you.  I  am  afraid.  Do  you  understand  what 
that  means  tome?  I  am  afraid  of  myself,  and  for  you, 
for  you  deserve  something  better. ' ' 

Suddenly  she  stooped,  kissed  the  withering  flowers  she 
held,  dropped  them  at  his  feet  and  was  off  like  a  mist 
wreath  down  the  hill. 

He  did  not  attempt  to  follow  her.  He  simply  sat  down 
again  on  the  stone  where  he  had  been  sitting  before, 
and  swore  to  God  that  sooner  or  later  he  would  marry 
her. 

And  then  he  fell  to  thinking  of  how  once  or  twice  in 
his  life  before  he  had  caught  a  glimpse,  as  he  had  just 
now  caught  one,  of  that  "  something  better,"  beyond 
the  Dream  of  Life. 

Once,  when  he  was  a  boy  watching  the  trail  of  silvery 
bubbles  left  behind  it  in  the  brown  stream  by  a  water- 
rat  as  it  swam.  Once  again  as  a  young  man,  when  he 
had  paid  half  a  crown  for  a  penny  bunch  of  violets,  and 
something  in  their  sweetness  had  made  him  add  half  a 
sovereign  to  their  price  and  go  on  his  way. 

Then  the  present  reasserted  itself.  He  could  not  pos- 
sibly take  this  for  his  answer,  he  must  wait  till  the  shock 
of  Gwen's  death  had  faded,  until  Aura  became  accus- 
tomed to  the  idea  of  her  own  love  for  him — for  that  she 
did  love  him  he  had  little  doubt.  It  was  briefly  her 
love  which  had  frightened  her,  quaint  compound  as  she 
was  of  nature  and  culture.  He  would  leave  her  to  think 
it  out  for  two  months.  During  that  time  he  also  would 
have  time  to  make  up  his  mind  concerning  many  things. 
He  was  becoming  dimly  conscious  that  life  was  resolv- 
ing itself  into  the  spending  of  money  in  order  to  escape 
from  the  responsibilities  of  having  money,  into  the  fight- 
ing of  money  by  money. 

It  would  be  rather  interesting  to  let  the  fight  go  on 
while  he  raised  no  finger  to  protect  his  own  personal 
rights;  if  indeed  he  had  any,  which  he  was  beginning 
to  doubt.    He  and  Aura  would  be  as  happy — nay !  hap- 


196  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

pier  without  money.  Yes !  in  the  one  thing  worth  hav- 
ing, the  one  thing  without  which  even  life  itself  was  not 
worth  having,  money  had  no  purchasing  power  whatever. 

"  I  am  only  just  beginning  to  realise  how  I  should 
hate  to  be  rich. ' ' 

Aura's  words  came  back  to  him.  She  need  not  fear. 
If  she  would  only  consent  to  marry  him,  he  would  chuck 
everything  he  possessed ! — barring  a  modest  competence 
of  course! — after  the  sovereigns  he  had  chucked  that 
June  morning  into  the  little  lochan  at  the  gap. 

He  had  never  thought  of  the  hidden  money  since  that 
day.  It  had  gone  clean  out  of  his  head.  Now,  as  he 
stood  up  to  try  and  locate  the  exact  dip  on  the  hills  where 
it  lay,  his  own  words  came  back  to  him. 

' '  Neither  I  nor  the  world  would  suffer  if  I  made  ducks 
and  drakes  of  these  sovereign  remedies. " 

He  seemed  to  hear  the  soft  whit  wliitter  of  the  skim- 
ming gold  and  to  see  the  blank  look  on  the  faces  around 
him. 

There  were  other  ways  of  getting  rid  of  gold,  however, 
than  by  chucking  it  into  a  pond.  You  had  in  this  civ- 
ilised world  but  to  let  your  neighbour  know  that  you  had 
it  in  your  pocket,  and  it  was  sure  to  go. 

So,  despite  his  refusal,  with  a  light  laugh  he  started 
down  the  hill. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

Aura,  however,  felt  bruised  and  broken,  as  with  slower, 
heavier  foot  than  usual  she  crossed  the  drawbridge,  and 
choosing  the  back  way,  went  through  the  cottage  to  the 
kitchen. 

Her  first  look  at  that  sanctuary  of  shiny  saucepans 
showed  her  that  something  in  the  nature  of  a  domestic 
cataclysm  had  occurred  during  her  absence;  for  the 
kitchen-table  was  littered  with  cake-tins,  and  the  ma- 
terials for  making  cakes,  a  savoury  smell  telling  of  cakes 
rose  from  the  oven,  and  Martha  herself,  with  a  hot 
flushed  face,  was  beating  viciously  at  the  whites  of  eggs 
which  were  to  go  towards  a  further  making  of  cakes. 
Now  such  activity  was  Martha's  invariable  method  of 
showing  that  she  had  what  she  called  "  a  bit  o'  time  " 
to  herself ;  therefore  her  invariable  habit  when  she  found 
herself  once  more  monarch  of  all  she  surveyed  and  so 
presumably  rather  pressed  for  time. 

1 '  Has  Parkinson  gone  ?  ' '  asked  Aura  swiftly. 

' '  Yes !  Miss  H  'Aura, ' '  replied  Martha,  pausing  to 
make  a  dive  into  the  oven  and  come  up  therefrom  still 
more  flushed  and  still  more  determined.  "  She's  gone. 
Bad  barm  won't  never  bake  'ouseholds  as  my  mother 
used  to  say ;  and  glad  was  I  to  be  rid  of  her,  for  I  shud  a ' 
put  her  past  afore  long,  yes!  I  shud,  and  a'  got  'ung 
for  it  I  s'ppose — it  ain't  any  good  lookin'  shocked,  Miss 
H'Aura,  for  a  body  can't  'elp  her  feelin's,  and  put  her 
past  I  shud,  for  Bate,  he  began  to  pity  her  shet  up  alone ! 
'  If  you  says  much  more,'  says  I,  '  it's  to  the  pigstyes 
she'll  go  ' — an'  the  only  proper  place  for  'er,  Miss 
H'Aura,  and  me  havin'  to  black  my  tongue  tellin'  master 
it  was  the  sow  as  was  squealin '  so !  But  there !  Them  as 
'as  no  'eads  takes  it  out  in  'earts,  and  Bate  is  that  soft 

197 


198  A-   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

about  winimin,  'tis  all  I  can  do  to  keep  from  kneadin' 
more  flour  to  him  as  if  he  was  a  silly  batch  o '  bread !  But 
we  '11  do  all  right  without  'er  caps  an '  aprons ;  and  so  I 
told  Bate." 

Martha 's  face,  indeed,  wore  a  determination  which  au- 
gured well  for  domestic  comfort. 

"  But  grandfather — "  began  Aura  anxiously,  "  he 
ought  not  to  be  disturbed. ' ' 

"  Who's  a  disturbing  of  the  good  gentleman?  " 
snapped  Martha,  "  Pore  dear,  'e'll  have  'is  shavin'  water 
'ot  in  future.  How  they  can  stand,  brazen,  an'  ask  wages 
beats  me!  An'  she  talkin'  o'  the  waste  o'  water  being  a 
crime  against  the  company — a  water  company,  winter 
time,  in  Wales !  Lord  sakes ! — if  she  run  the  cold  off,  as  I 
bid  her  do ;  though  'er  pantry  tap  was  spoutin '  into  the 
pail  a  good  'arf  hour  while  she  was  beguilin '  Bate.  No ! 
Miss  H'Aura !  I  wasn't  goin'  to  lie  for  'er  more'n  I  cud 
'elp,  so  I  told  master  the  stric'  truth-an '-no-one-a-penny- 
the-worse,  as  the  sayin'  is." 

' '  What  did  you  tell  him  ?  ' '  asked  Aura  rather  wearily, 
for  even  Martha  was  getting  on  her  nerves. 

"  I  told  him  as  revivals  havin'  bin  too  much  for  her 
body  an'  soul  she  was  stoppin'  at  the  inn,  where  she  is, 
Miss  H'Aura,  and  if  she  screech  there  as  she  screeched 
here  some  one  '11  be  in  Bedlam  before  mornin' — an'  so  I 
told  Bate." 

This  was  the  invariable  epilogue  to  all  Martha's 
diatribes. 

"  I  suppose  Mr.  Cruttenden  has  returned?  "  asked 
Aura. 

"  As  nice  as  nuts,  an'  is  in  with  Master.  I  reely  don't 
know,  now  I  come  to  think  on  it,  what  we  shud  a-done 
this  last  week  without  'im!  Not  but  what  'is  lord- 
ship  "   she  shot   a  quick   glance   at   Aura — "  Lord 

sakes !  deary, ' '  she  cried,  ' '  you  do  look  weary-like.  Go 
up  to  your  bed,  there's  a  duck,  an'  have  a  lie  down — 
one  can't  never  forget  the  face  o'  death  till  one's  asleep." 

[  Death,  and  his  brother  sleep!*  .  .  • 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  199 

The  words  were  in  Aura's  brain  as  she  went  upstairs, 
wondering  why  it  was  that  now  Ned  was  no  longer  be- 
side her  she  felt  far  more  disturbed,  far  more,  in  a  way, 
ashamed  about  him,  than  she  had  done  when  he  was  be- 
side her.  Yes !  even  when  he  had  been  masterful  and  told 
her  that  it  was  all  foolishness,  that  she  knew  she  loved 
him. 

The  house  seemed  so  familiarly  quiet  and  peaceful 
that  the  turmoil  of  her  mind  became  all  unreal  to  her. 
Surely  the  least  honest  effort  must  suffice  to  bring  back 
her  old  fearlessness  of  outlook. 

Her  birthday  presents  lay  on  the  table,  amongst  them 
Ted 's  Shelley,  open,  curiously  enough,  at  the  ' '  Adonais. ' ' 
Her  eye  glanced  at  the  verses,  became  fascinated;  she 
stood  reading  until  with  a  sigh  of  infinite  satisfaction 
she  closed  the  book  over  those  words : 

'The  One  remains,  the  Many  change  and  pass!' 

That  was  beautiful.  That  calmed  the  soul.  Gwen's 
dead  face  came  back  to  her  now  without  any  terror  in  it. 
The  Sting  of  Death  was  gone. 

But  Love — the  love  that  Gwen  had  felt,  of  which  she 
herself  was  not  all  unconscious,  what  of  that? 

Dimly,  darkly,  as  in  a  glass,  the  girl  saw  that  to  be 
noble  it  must  be  the  antithesis  of  Death — it  must  be 
Birth.  But  that  was  not  the  Love  of  the  world.  What 
had  Mervyn,  what  had  Gwen,  thought  of  Birth?  Noth- 
ing. If  anything  they  had  hoped  to  evade  it.  They  had 
tried  to  take  the  Pleasure  without  incurring  the  Pain. 
They  had  not  thought  of  anything  but  themselves. 

She  passed  on  to  the  window-sill  and  looked  down  once 
more  on  the  ' '  most  beautiful  thing  in  the  most  beautiful 
place  in  the  world." 

But  what  was  that  really  1 

Was  it  Love  standing  between  Birth  and  Death,  or  was 
it  something  better?  Something  beyond  both.  Some- 
thing of  which  but  a  glimpse  could  be  caught  during  that 
journey  between  the  Cradle  and  the  Grave? 


200  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

So,  for  one  brief  moment  as  she  stood  looking  at  the 
iris  she  saw  that  Something,  beyond  Birth,  beyond  Death, 
beyond  even  Love.  A  shimmer  came  to  the  air,  her  pulses 
caught  the  rhythm,  and  lo !  she  was  no  more,  the  One  was 
All,  and  from  the  uttermost  end  of  Space  came  back  the 
ceaseless  Wave  of  Unity. 

And  then?  .  .  . 

Then  the  fear  of  death  re-asserted  itself.  Surely  the 
flags  of  the  iris  showed  limp !  The  dear  thing  must  not 
stop  there  without  due  foothold  on  the  round  world, 
else  would  it  lose  the  immortality  of  new  birth. 

So,  tired  as  she  was,  she  lifted  it  up,  saxifrage  and  all, 
in  both  her  hands,  went  downstairs,  and  so  across  the 
lawn  to  a  place  she  wotted  of  where  it  might  grow  un- 
disturbed by  fear  of  old  Adam's  meddling  fork.  There 
was  a  certain  solemnity  about  her  necessarily  slow  move- 
ments, and  she  felt  almost  as  if  she  were  conducting  a 
funeral.  And  so  in  truth  it  was ;  a  funeral  of  her  careless 
girlhood.  She  was  a  woman  now;  she  had  begun  to  un- 
derstand herself.  Yet  as  she  laid  the  flower  on  the  spot 
where  she  intended  to  plant  it  and  went  for  her  trowel, 
the  pity  of  the  funeral  hit  her  hard,  and  when  she  re- 
turned Ned's  blue  eyes  seemed  to  look  at  her  appealingly 
from  the  iris 's  broad  face.    His  were  such  beautiful  eyes ! 

She  dug  furiously,  forgetful  of  everything  but  her  de- 
sire to  bury,  until  a  step  sounded  beside  her,  and  she 
looked  up  to  see  another  pair  of  blue  eyes  broader,  bolder, 
looking  down  at  her. 

' '  What  are  you  digging, ' '  said  Ted  with  a  ring  of  ag- 
grievedness  in  his  voice ;  "  a  grave  ?  Oh !  I  beg  your  par- 
don, dear,  I  oughtn't  to  have  said  that,  I  oughtn't  to  have 
reminded  you — but  I  've  been  expecting  you  to  return  for 
such  a  long  while — and — oh!  my  poor  little  girl — I  'm 
so  sorry  for  it  all — it  must  have  been  horrible." 

His  normal  sympathy  brought  her  back  to  normal.  She 
realised  as  she  had  not  realised  with  Ned,  that  after  all 
she  was  but  a  mere  girl  who  needed  cossetting  and  com- 
forting after  the  terrible  shock  of  the  morning. 

"  It  was  horrible,"  she  replied,  with  a  little  shiver; 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  201 

"  you  can't  think  how  horrible — somehow,  after  it  all, 
it  is  good  to  see  you  just — just  yourself. ' 

She  felt  indeed  grateful  to  him  for  his  size,  his  solid- 
ity, his  undoubted  affection:  perhaps  unconsciously  she 
was  grateful  to  him  for  his  failure  to  disturb  her  in- 
most soul. 

"  It  must  have  been  awful,"  he  said,  his  blue  eyes 
showing  all  the  kindness  in  the  world.  "  I  can't  think 
how  you  got  through  with  it  as  you  have ;  but  you  are  so 
brave — far  braver  than  I  should  be — but  come,  don't 
let  us  talk  or  think  of  it  any  more.  Don't  let  us  spoil  my 
last  afternoon. ' ' 

She  stood  up  startled.  "  Your  last!  "  she  cried,  in 
quick  concern.    ' '  Oh !  Ted,  why  is  it  your  last  ?  '  \ 

He  took  a  step  nearer  to  her,  his  face  lit  up  with  con- 
tent. "I'mso  glad  you  care — I  suppose  it's  selfish— but 
I  am  glad.  Yes !  I  have  to  go.  Hirsch  has  business  for 
me  in  Paris — most  important  business,  and  I  must  leave 
by  the  mail  to-night." 

Even  as  he  spoke,  his  mind  running  on  ahead,  thought 
with  a  different  content  of  what  this  visit  to  Paris  might 
mean  to  them  both,  if  things  turned  out  as  he  hoped  they 
might. 

"  Must  you?  "  she  echoed  wistfully.  It  seemed  to  her 
as  if  every  friend  she  had  had  was  leaving ;  and  Ted  had 
been  such  a  help  to  her  during  the  last  few  anxious  days. 
"  How  shall  we  manage  without  you?  "  she  went  on 
doubtfully;  "  grandfather  will  miss  you  so  much— and 
I " 

There  were  almost  tears  in  her  voice,  and  Ted  felt  a 
wild  desire  then  and  there  to  come  to  explanations.  But 
he  knew  it  was  wiser  to  wait. 

' '  I  will  come  back  at  once  if  I  am  wanted, ' '  he  replied ; 
"  but  I  hope  I  shan't  be  wanted— at  least  not  in  any 
hurry ;  for  of  course  I  shall  come  back  again  soon — and 
then— but  I  really  haven't  time  now.  I  have  to  put  up 
my  things  you  see.    I  stayed  as  long  as  I  could  with  him 

thinking  you  would  be  sure  to  come  in  at  once " 

there  was  the  faintest  reproach  in  his  tone. 


202  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

An  instant  pang  of  remorse  shot  through  the  girl.  She 
had  stopped  talking  sentimental  rubbish  to  Ned  while  he 
— Ted — was  doing  her  duty. 

' '  I  will  go  in  to  him  in  a  moment, ' '  she  said  hurriedly, 
' '  I  have  only  to  plant  this  flower. ' ' 

She  set  to  work  hurriedly,  Ted  lingering  to  look  down 
superciliously  at  the  iris. 

"  It's  rather  pretty,"  he  said;  "  did  you  find  it  in 
the  woods?  " 

Aura's  blush  was  hidden  as  she  hastily  filled  in  to 
proper  dimensions  the  perfect  grave  she  had  previously 
dug. 

"  No.    Ned  gave  it  me  as — as  a  New  Year's  gift." 

Ted  half  smiled,  thinking  that  if  he  had  had  as  much 
money  as  Lord  Blackborough  he  would  have  known  bet- 
ter how  to  spend  it  on  the  girl  he  loved ;  but,  of  course, 
if  Ned  chose  to  be  so  niggardly  in  some  things,  so  lavish 
in  others,  it  was  his  own  lookout. 

"  I  hope  you  liked  the  book;  the  binding  wasn't  quite 
so  nice  as  I  should  have  wished,"  he  began. 

Aura  interrupted  him  heartily. 

"  I  liked  it  ever  so  much — thanks  so  many!  And  I 
shall  always  like  it.  That  is  the  best  of  books — summer 
and  winter  they  are  always  the  same  ' ' — she  became  taken 
with  her  own  thought  and  pursued  it — ' '  they  aren  't  like 
flowers — you  haven 't  to  watch  for  their  blooming  time — 
you  haven't  even  to  smell  their  scent — you  haven't  to 
think  for  them  of  storms  or  slugs  or  frost  and  field  mice  ' ' 
— here  she  smiled  at  her  own  alliterations — "  but  if  you 
want  them,  there  they  are,  ready  to  make  you  happy.  Do 
you  know,  you've  been  a  regular  book  to  me  lately, 
Ted?  " 

He  flushed  up  with  pleasure.  "  Have  I?  "  he  said 
frankly;  "  that's  good  hearing.     I — I  wish  I  were  your 

whole  library "    Once  more  he  paused,  obsessed  by 

that  idea  of  the  night-mail  to  Paris. 

As  he  went  off  to  pack  his  things  he  almost  wished  that 
she  had  come  in  a  little  earlier;  but  then  he  would  not 
have  had  such  an  eminently  satisfactory  talk  with  her 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  203 

grandfather.  So  far  as  he,  at  any  rate,  was  concerned 
it  was  all  plain  sailing,  for  the  old  man,  distressed  at 
hearing  of  Ted's  sudden  departure,  had  for  the  first  time 
taken  him  into  his  confidence.  It  was  not  exactly  a 
pleasing  confidence,  but  it  was  only  what  Ted  had  ex- 
pected. Aura  would  be  penniless,  since  years  before 
Sylvanus  Smith  had  sunk  all  his  money  in  an  annuity 
which  would  cease  with  his  death.  Under  the  circum- 
stances, Ted  had  felt  that  both  the  kindest  and  the  wisest 
thing  was  to  allay  anxiety — that  tardy  anxiety  which  was 
in  itself  but  another  form  of  selfishness — by  speaking  of 
his  own  love  for  Aura,  and  his  earnest  desire  to  marry 
her,  if  she  would  have  him. 

' '  Of  course  she  will  marry  you !  ' '  Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith 
had  said  with  calm  shrewdness.  "  Who  else  is  there 
for  her  to  marry  ?  ' ' 

Whereupon  Ted,  divided  as  to  whether  he  was  doing 
a  magnanimous  or  a  mean  thing,  had  suggested  Lord 
Blackborough.  It  had  produced  a  perfect  storm  of  in- 
credulous irritation.  The  bare  idea  was  absurd.  Black- 
borough,  like  all  in  his  rank,  was  merely  amused  by  a 
pretty  face.  He,  Sylvanus  Smith,  had  only  tolerated 
him  as  Ted's  friend,  and  he  would  forbid  him  the  house 
in  future;  no  granddaughter  of  his  should  marry  a 
lord ! 

Briefly,  the  old  man  whose  life  had  been  spent  in 
preaching  socialism  and  liberty  in  the  abstract,  who  de- 
nied the  existence  of  social  rank,  and  proclaimed  the 
right  of  the  individual  to  independent  action,  was  ready 
to  forswear  both  tenets,  and  pose  as  a  relentless  parent 
of  the  good  old  type. 

Ted  had  forborne  to  smile,  and,  feeling  really  magnani- 
mous this  time,  had  attempted  to  smooth  over  the  old 
man 's  irritation,  which  none  the  less  he  knew  to  be  points 
in  his  favour. 

So,  as  he  packed  his  portmanteau,  he  whistled  light- 
heartedly. 

Aura,  meanwhile  having  finished  her  burial,  went  off  to 
the  book-room  where  she  found  her  grandfather,  as  usual, 


204  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

busy  with  pen  and  paper,  the  writing-table  drawn  up  to 
the  fire,  the  solitary  extra  chair  in  which  Ted  had  been 
sitting  looking  lone  and  outcast,  camped  away  in  the 
open  beyond  the  leather  screen  which  in  winter  always 
surrounded  Mr.  Smith's  socialism  and  the  fire. 

He  was  looking  a  little  flushed,  and  she  paused,  ere 
sitting  down  on  the  floor  by  the  hearth  to  say  anxiously, 
* '  You  haven 't  been  vexing  yourself,  I  hope,  grandfather, 
while  I  was  away — I — I  had  rather  a  headache — so  I 
went  up  the  hills.    Martha " 

"  Martha  has  been  excellent,  as  usual,"  he  replied, 
"  on  the  whole  she  does  Parkinson's  work  fairly  well; 

though  I  could  wish "  here  he  sighed — "  the  absence 

of  a  suitable  cap  and  apron  is  certainly  to  be  deplored, 
but  she  makes  an  excellent  omelette. ' '  He  turned  again 
to  his  work  of  writing  a  pamphlet  on  the  Simple  Life. 

Aura  sat  watching  him,  as  she  had  watched  him  as 
long  as  she  could  remember.  She  was  very  fond,  very 
proud  of  him.  Extremely  well  read,  curiously  quick  in 
mind,  he  had  taught  her  everything  she  knew,  and  she 
was  but  just  beginning  to  find  out  that  this  everything 
was  more  than  most  women  are  supposed  to  know.  She 
had  found  no  difficulty  in  holding  her  own  with  Ned 
and  Ted,  and  Dr.  Ramsay  and  Mr.  Hirsch,  except  so  far 
as  mere  knowledge  of  the  world  went,  and  that  was  not 
worth  counting. 

To  her  mind  grandfather  had  had  the  best  of  any  argu- 
ment she  had  ever  heard ;  but  then  Ned  would  never  ar- 
gue with  him. 

Still  he  had  not  taught  her  all  things.  He  had  never 
mentioned  love  or  marriage,  or  birth  or  death,  though 
these  surely  were  the  chief  factors  in  life — in  a  woman 's 
life  anyhow. 

Suddenly,  out  of  the  almost  bewildering  ramifications 
of  her  thought,  she  put,  almost  thoughtlessly,  a  question. 

"  Grandfather,  was  my  father  fond  of  me?  " 

Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  looked  up  startled,  and  distinctly 
pale.  "  I  had  not  the  honour  of  your  father's  acquaint- 
ance, ' '  he  said  icily, ' '  therefore  I  cannot  say. ' '    Then  he, 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  205 

as  it  were,  pulled  himself  together.  "  And  you  will 
oblige  me,"  he  continued,  "  by  not  asking  any  more 
questions  of  the  sort.    I  cannot  answer  them. ' ' 

He  went  on  writing,  but  his  hand  trembled  a  little. 
She  had  heard  this  formula  more  than  once,  but  after  a 
time,  moved  thereto  by  the  new  stress  in  her  thoughts, 
the  girl  rose,  and  going  up  behind  him  stood  looking  over 
his  shoulder. 

"  Grandfather,"  she  said,  uIam  not  going  to  ask  any 
more  questions  about  the  past.  I  don't  see  that  it  mat- 
ters at  all.  I  should  like  to  have  known  that  my  father 
was — was  glad  of  me;  my  mother  must  have  been,  I 
think,  though  she  died  so  soon.  But  I  should  like  to  know 
what  is  in  the  future.  What— what  do  you  expect  me 
to  do  1.    Do  you  wish  me  to  marry  1  ' ' 

He  turned  round  in  his  chair,  and  looked  at  her  help- 
lessly. 

"  That  is  rather  a  peculiar  question,  my  dear,  he 
said  feebly,  "  but,  of  course " 

"  Don't  answer  it  if  it  worries  you,  please,"  she  urged 
quickly;  "  but  if  you  could  speak  of  it— it  would  be  a 
great  help." 

Vaguely  she  felt  choky  over  the  last  words.  It  did 
seem  so  hard  to  be  left  all  alone  in  the  wide  world  to 
face  these  dark  problems. 

"  It — it  is  not  a  usual  subject  for  discussion,  even  be- 
tween parent  and  child,  Aura,"  he  replied;  "  but  if  you 
ask  me — yes.    I  am  extremely  anxious  for  you  to  marry. 

"  Why?  "    The  question  came  swiftly. 

Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  put  down  his  pen  finally,  and 
turned  his  feet  to  the  fire.  He  thought  for  a  moment  of 
quite  a  variety  of  reasons.  Because  it  was  the  natural 
end  of  woman ;  .  .  .  but  for  years  past  he  had  laboured 
in  vain  to  convince  the  world  that  marriage  was  slavery. 
Because  he  wished  her  to  be  happy  *  ...  but  so  many 
marriages  were  unhappy.  Because  he  would  have  liked 
to  see  grandchildren  about  him?  ...  but  in  his  inner- 
most heart  he  knew  that  a  few  months  of  life  was  all  for 
which  he  had  any  right  to  look. 


206  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

He  decided  finally  on  the  real  reason. 

"  Because — because  when  I  die,  my  child,  and  that 
cannot  be  far  off " 

"  Grandfather,  don't!  " 

Her  voice  became  poignant  with  fond  reproof. 

He  heaved  a  sigh,  and  honestly  felt  himself  heroic. 

"  My  dear,"  he  said  grandly,  "  there  is  no  use  in  de- 
ceiving ourselves — I  may  live — but  on  the  other  hand," 
he  waved  his  pretty  white  hand  gracefully.  The  conver- 
sation was  beginning  to  interest  him,  and  though  he  had 
acquiesced  in  Ted  Cruttenden's  desire  to  let  the  question 
stand  over  for  the  present,  he  felt  there  could  be  no  harm 
in  diagnosing  Aura's  attitude.  "  The  fact  is,  my  dear, 
that  when  I  die  you  will  be  very  badly  off,  in  fact,  it  is  a 
source  of  the  very  greatest  anxiety  to  me,  Aura,  you  will 
have  nothing — I  mean  no  money — and  unless  you  are 
married — happily  married — I  do  not  see  how  you  can 
earn  your  own  livelihood." 

' '  Then  I  should  earn  it  by  being  married ! "  she  asked. 

' ;  Well !  hardly  so ;  but — it  would  be  a  great  weight  off 
my  mind,  Aura.    So — if  you  have  the  chance " 

She  stood  still  for  a  moment  or  two,  then  once  more 
seating  herself  on  the  floor,  this  time  at  his  feet,  she 
turned  her  face  to  the  fire.  "  I  have  the  chance,"  she 
said  at  last  in  a  clear  voice,  "  Lord  Blaekborough  asked 

me  to  marry  him  to-day.    I  refused — but "    Her  face 

was  still  hidden,  but  a  curious  expectancy  came  to  her 
whole  attitude.     She  seemed  on  the  alert. 

Sylvanus  Smith  who  had  sat  up  prepared  to  curse, 
sank  back  in  his  chair  to  bless  with  a  sigh  of  relief. 
' '  You  refused  him !  Thank  God !  My  dear  child,  you — 
you  caused  me  the  most  painful  alarm ;  though  I  might 
have  trusted  your  good  sense  to  see  that  it  would  have 
been — a — a  most  unsuitable  marriage." 

The  alertness  had  gone.  "  Would  it?  "  she  said  in- 
differently, ' '  Yes !  I  suppose  it  would. ' '  She  said  no 
more,  though  all  unconsciously  the  iron  was  entering  her 
heart,  the  young  glad  animal  heart  which  clamoured  for 
pleasure.     Still,  what  her  grandfather  had  called  her 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  207 

good  sense  had  shown  her  this  unsuitability  at  once, 
though  his  grounds  for  his  opinion  were  most  likely  very 
different  from  hers.  At  the  same  time  it  was  her  de- 
cision. She  had  made  it  of  her  own  free  will.  There  was 
no  coercion  about  it.  She  had  made  it,  and  it  was  as  well 
that  others  endorsed  her  action. 

So  she  essayed  a  smile  and  turned  towards  him. 
"  Then  I  don't  think  I  have  any  other  chance  of  getting 
married  just  at  present,  grandfather,"  she  said  lightly, 

"  but   if   anybody   '  comes   along '  "     She   paused, 

joking  on  the  subject  being  a  trifle  beyond  her. 

The  old  man  sat  looking  at  her  with  real  affection  over- 
laid by  the  quaint  sense  of  magnanimity  which  pursued 
him  in  every  relation  of  life,  the  result  no  doubt  of  his 
unquestioning  acceptance  of  himself  as  philanthropic 
benefactor  to  the  race.  Should  he  or  should  he  not  tell 
her  what  he  had  just  heard  from  Ted  ? 

Something  in  the  slackness  of  her  attitude  as  she  sat 
crouched  by  the  fire,  something  of  weariness  in  the  young 
face  which,  as  a  rule,  was  so  buoyant  with  the  joie  de 
vivre,  made  him  decide  on  telling  her.  There  could  be 
no  harm  in  finding  out  how  she  was  prepared  to  receive 
the  suggestion.    He  drew  his  chair  closer. 

"  But  there  you  are  mistaken  surely.  Has  it  never 
occurred    to    you   that  — that   perhaps  — Mr.    Crutten- 

den " 

"Ted!"  echoed  Aura.  "No!  Grandfather,  it  is 
you  who  are  mistaken.  Ted  and  I  have  always  been  the 
best  of  friends— the  very  best  of  friends!  but  he  has 
never —  Oh!  I  can  assure  you  he  has  never  been  the 
least— never  the  least  like  Ned— I  mean  Lord  Black- 
borough.  " 

"  Perhaps  that  stands  to  his  credit,"  remarked  the  old 
man  chillily.  "  Love  is  not  shown— by— by  love-making. 
But  I  am  sure  of  what  I  say,  my  dear,  because— Ted  as 
you  call  him— though  in  my  young  days— but  we  will 
let  that  pass  for  the  present— told  me  himself  that  the 

dearest  wish  of  his  heart " 

At  this  moment  the  door  opened  and  Ted  himself, 


208  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

light-hearted,  free,  eager  to  have  what  he  could  of  Aura's 
company,  came  in. 

"  I've  finished,"  he  cried,  "  so  now  for  something  bet- 
ter  "  he  paused,  conscious  that  the  air  was  full  of 

something  more  important  at  any  rate.    Was  it  better,  or 
was  it  worse? 

Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  essayed  a  discreet  innocence  by  a 
warning  cough  to  Aura,  and  a  hasty  return  to  his  papers ; 
but  the  girl  was  too  much  in  earnest  for  silence.  Her 
nerves,  overstrung  by  the  strain  of  the  long  day,  during 
which  almost  everything  to  be  learnt  in  life  seemed  to 
have  been  crowded  into  a  few  hours,  vibrated  to  this  new 
possibility.  She  rose  instantly,  and  advancing  a  step  or 
two  stood  facing  the  young  man  with  a  new  recklessness 
in  her  expression.  ' '  Ted, ' '  she  said,  and  there  was  a  note 
of  appeal  in  her  voice,  "  Grandfather  has  been  telling 
me  something  I  can't  believe.  Is  it  true  that  you  also 
want  to  marry  me?" 

For  an  instant  surprised  out  of  balance,  overwhelmed 
by  the  utter  unconventionality  of  the  question  the  young 
man  hesitated.  Yes  or  no  seemed  to  him  equally  out  of 
keeping.  Then  his  passion  for  her  came  to  the  rescue, 
and  something  told  him  that  the  question  would  never 
have  been  asked  if  the  girl  had  not  staked  herself,  body 
and  soul,  on  the  answer. 

He  strode  across  the  room  and  took  her  by  her  out- 
stretched hands. 

"  I  have  wanted  it,  Aura,"  he  said,  and  his  voice  vi- 
brated as  the  whole  world  seemed  to  him  to  be  vibrating, 
"  ever  since  I  saw  you  first — do  you  remember—"  he 
was  drawing  her  closer  to  him  unresisting,  though  in  her 
eyes  there  was  a  certain  expectant  dread,  "  you  were 
standing — surely  you  remember — "  his  voice  grew  softer 
— "  in  the  garden  room — standing  in  the  sunlight  with 
the  flowers  behind  you — and  the  cockatoo "  the  sen- 
tence ended  in  the  first  kiss  which  had  ever  fallen  on 
Aura's  lips. 

She  did  not  shrink.  On  the  contrary,  she  gave  a  little 
sigh  of  satisfaction,  and  looked  gratefully  at  Ted. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  209 

"  Yes,  I  remember, "  she  said  softly,  "  and  ever  since 
then  yon  have  been  so  good  to  me. ' ' 

"  Then  yon  will  marry  me,  Aura,"  he  said — "  yon  will 
really  marry  me?" 

"If  it  makes  yon  happy— if  yon  really  mean  it, 
an(j — "  she  turned  to  her  grandfather — "  does  it  make 
yon  happy  too  ?  ' ' 

He  was  busy  with  his  pocket  handkerchief,  and  blew 
his  nose  ere  he  replied.  "  My  happiness  is  assured  if — 
if  you — "  He  said  no  more,  for  his  memory  was  clear, 
and  there  are  some  things  which  do  not  grow  dim 
with  years,  and  one  of  them  is  the  remembrance  of 
love. 

"  I  am  quite  happy,"  she  said  gravely,  "  and  I  think 
I  shall  always  be  happy  with  Ted." 

Whereupon  Ted  kissed  her  again,  and  tried  to  realise 
that  he  was  in  the  seventh  heaven  of  delight ;  as  he  was 
indeed,  though  he  felt  rather  rushed  as  he  thought  of  the 
night  mail  to  Paris. 

"  We  have  hardly  time  to  get  engaged  decently  and 
in  order,"  he  said  joyfully.  "  You  will  have  to  wait  for 
your  ring,  my  darling. ' ' 

"  My  ring?"  she  echoed  inquiringly,  whereupon  Ted 
laughed  still  more  joyfully  at  her  entrancing  ignorance 
of  the  world  and  its  ways ;  but  Sylvanus  Smith,  who  had 
been  looking  into  the  fire,  roused  himself  to  touch  a 
ring  which  he  always  wore  on  his  little  finger.  ' '  I  have 
one  here,"  he  said  dreamily;  "  it  holds  her  mother's 
hair." 

"  My  mother's!  "  cried  Aura  gladly,  "  Oh!  may  I 
have  it,  grandfather?  " 

Ted  looked  with  distaste  at  the  little  mourning  ring; 
just  a  plait  of  bronze  brown  hair  like  Aura's  set  in  a 
plain  gold  rim  as  a  background  to  "  In  Memoriam  "  in 
black  enamel  letters. 

"It  is  rather  grisly,"  he  whispered  fondly  as  he 
slipped  it  on  to  the  girl's  finger,  "  but  it  win  do  to— to 
keep  the  place  warm !    By  and  by  it  shall  be  diamonds." 

She  shook  her  head.    "  I  shall  like  this  best,"  she  said, 


210  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

"  it  will  remind  me  of "    And  then  she  lifted  her 

finger  to  her  lips  and  kissed  the  little  ring.  It  would  be 
hers  always  to  remind  her  of  Love  and  Death,  and  Birth 
that  came  between  the  two. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

Poor  Gwen's  death  had  caused  quite  a  pleasurable  ex- 
citement in  the  village. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  to  all  save  the  immediate 
few  whose  natural  emotions  are  involved,  most  deaths 
bring  a  quicker  tide  of  life  to  the  living. 

It  has  been  said,  indeed,  that  funerals  are  often  the 
preludes  to  marriage.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Gwen,  despite 
her  gift  of  grace,  had  lived  all  her  short  life  on  such  a 
different  plane  from  the  rest  of  the  village  girls  that, 
except  in  the  little  shepherd's  cottage  amid  the  hills,  few 
real  tears  were  shed  over  her  dramatic  death. 

And  it  was  so  dramatic !  To  die  in  full  song — to  shed 
her  life-blood  in  trying  to  bring  the  glad  news  to  other 
souls.  Surely  that  must  avail!  Surely  that  sacrifice 
must  turn  those  sinful  souls  to  peace. 

Though  they  did  not  know  it,  and  for  Mr.  Sylvanus 
Smith's  prospect  of  peace,  it  was  as  well  he  did  not,  both 
Aura  and  her  grandfather  were  special  objects  of  inter- 
cession at  many  hundreds  of  chapels  the  very  next  Sun- 
day.   For  the  story  naturally  grew  in  the  telling. 

Meanwhile  Gwen,  poor  soul,  was  laid  with  much 
fervour  beside  her  baby,  the  rector  duly  officiating ;  for 
the  old  shepherd  and  his  wife,  thinking  of  their  own 
funerals  to  come,  held  fast  to  tradition.  Whatever  else 
you  might  be  in  life,  death  brought  you  back  to  the 
Church,  back  to  the  solemn  old  service  in  which  dust  is 
reverently  committed  to  dust,  ashes  to  ashes. 

Nearly  all  the  village  attended,  for,  in  a  way,  it  was 
proud  of  Gwen.  There  was  but  one  notable  absence. 
Alicia  Edwards  was  not  there  to  take  her  part  in  singing 
"  Day  of  Wrath  "  over  her  dead  friend.     She  was  in 

211 


212 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


bed  or  at  any  rate  confined  to  her  room ;  for  the  dramatic 
death  on  New  Year's  morning  had  apparently  been  too 
much  for  her  nerves. 

The  gossips  of  the  village  went  in  and  out,  condoling 
with  her,  and  applauding  her  sensibility,  and  retailing 
to  her  all  the  affecting  particulars  of  the  funeral,  the 
wreaths,  the  remembrances  from  souls  saved  by  the  dead 
girl's  singing,  the  excellence  of  the  mournings  provided 
by  Myfanwy  Jones,  and  the  apparently  real  grief  of 
Mervyn  Pugh,  who  went  about  looking  like  a  lost  soul 
himself. 

Only  over  the  latter  statement  did  Alicia  Edwards 
commit  herself  so  far  as  to  say  with  sphinx-like  grav- 
ity, "I  do  not  wonder.  Mervyn  and  Gwen  were 
always  friends.  Yes,  indeed!  even  at  school  they  were 
friends. ' ' 

Looking  back  from  her  new  knowledge  concerning 
Gwen's  past,  Alicia's  only  wonder  was,  indeed,  that  no 
one  had  ever  suspected  Mervyn.  And  yet,  who  could 
suspect  Mervyn?  Mervyn,  the  pattern  of  the  village; 
Mervyn,  among  whose  perfections  her  own  facile  heart 
had  been  entangled  these  many  years  past.  Nor  was  she 
alone.  Half  the  village  girls  would  have  given  their  eyes 
to  secure  him  for  their  own. 

And  now  that  he  had  fallen  from  his  high  pedestal,  it 
seemed  to  her,  woman-like,  that  she  desired  him  more 
than  ever.  That  desire,  in  truth,  was  the  cause  of  her 
seclusion.  She  was  not  ill — simply  she  could  not  make 
up  her  mind  what  to  do.  One-half  of  her  asserted  that 
she  ought  to  denounce  Mervyn ;  that  it  was  wrong  for  her 
to  allow  him  thus  to  play  the  hypocrite,  that  it  would  be 
good  for  his  soul's  health  to  do  penance  in  sackcloth  and 
ashes ;  the  other  half  found  excuses  for  him  beneath  the 
cloak  of  consideration  for  the  slur  which  would  be  cast 
by  the  unrighteous  over  the  whole  revival,  could  it  be 
shown  that  one  of  the  most  prominent  in  starting  it  was 
— so  to  speak — an  unrepentant  castaway ;  for  repentance 
in  such  a  case  as  this  meant  the  confession  for  which  the 
elders  of  the  congregation  had  clamoured,  the  lack  of 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  213 

which  had  sent  an  unbaptized  child  to  the  happily  infinite 
mercy-seat  of  God. 

Alicia  knew  all  this.  She  had  been  well  brought  up, 
well  drilled  by  her  father  in  the  catechisms,  and  in  her 
inmost  soul — a  very  conventional,  placid,  harmless  soul — 
she  was  quite  shocked  at  Mervyn's  stony-heartedness. 
For  all  that,  she  could  not  make  up  her  mind  to  de- 
nounce him.  She  would  give  him  time.  He  knew  that 
she  knew  his  secret,  and  that  she  was  the  only  person  in 
the  world  now  who  knew  it — at  least  of  this  world ;  for 
the  "wild  girl  of  Cwmfairnog,"  as  the  village  had 
dubbed  Aura,  had  not  even  attended  the  inquest. 
Martha  had  given  her  evidence,  and  Martha  had  known 
nothing.  So  there  was  no  likelihood  of  the  truth  coming 
out  except  through  her,  Alicia.  Perhaps  Mervyn,  know- 
ing this,  would  come  to  her  and  unburden  his  soul.  Un- 
doubtedly, if  Providence  had  not  intended  her  to  de- 
nounce ths  sinner — and  of  this,  as  the  days  went  on,  she 
became  more  and  more  certain — it  must  have  had  some 
other  purpose  in  making  her  the  sole  recipient  of  the 
terrible  knowledge. 

What  purpose? 

For  to  her,  as  to  Morris  Pugh,  as  to  nearly  all  these 
traffickers  in  cheap  marvels,  the  impulse  to  see  some  hid- 
den meaning,  some  direct  dealing  of  the  Creator  with  His 
creature  man,  had  become  almost  an  obsession. 

What  purpose,  then,  could  Providence  have  had  in 
thus  choosing  Alicia  Edwards  out  of  all  the  village  to  be 
this  sole  recipient  ? 

The  answer  was  easy.  That  Mervyn  might  come  to 
her  as  a  sort  of  mediator,  as  he  might  have  come  to  a 
father  confessor. 

So,  as  the  time  wore  on,  Alicia  waited  for  Mervyn ;  but 
Mervyn  never  appeared,  not  even  after  she  came  down, 
becomingly  dressed  in  deep  mourning,  to  sit  in  the  back 
parlour  and  receive  her  friends.  Myfanwy  Jones,  whose 
holiday  had  been  extended  over  the  funeral  by  reason  of 
the  many  orders  she  had  successfully  placed  for  it,  looked 
in  several  times,  but  there  was  not  much  love  lost  between 


214  &   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

the  two  nowadays.  So  when,  on  the  morning  after  the 
funeral,  Myfanwy  came  to  say  good-bye,  Alicia  was 
relieved.  She  felt  the  influence  of  this  big,  beautiful, 
worldly  creature  to  be  malign ;  and,  once  it  was  removed, 
she  was  sure  that  Mervyn  would  surely  return  to  the 
holder  of  his  secret. 

"  You  will  be  going  by  the  midday  carrier/'  said 
Alicia  cheerfully ;  ' '  you  will  have  a  fine  drive  to  Llanilo 
whatever." 

' '  A  beautiful  drive, ' '  assented  Myfanwy ;  "  I  was  try- 
ing to  make  Mervyn  Pugh  take  it  with  me  for  a  change, 
but  he  prefers  to  mope.  I  did  not  know  him  such  a 
friend  of  poor  dead  Gwen." 

She  challenged  Alicia  with  her  bold  black  eyes,  and 
Alicia  felt  herself  flush. 

' '  When  people  spend  their  lives  together  in  holy  work, 
Myfanwy  dear,"  she  replied  in  a  purring  voice,  "it  is 
very  close  they  grow  to  each  other,  very  close  indeed. ' ' 

' '  If  they  spend  their  lives  together  anyway, ' '  retorted 
Myfanwy  with  a  superior  laugh,  ' '  they  often  grow  very 
close — very  close  indeed — sometimes  too  close. ' ' 

But  Alicia  was  prepared  for  her,  and  smiled  sweetly. 
"  You  do  not  understand  religion,  Myfanwy.  As  Mer- 
vyn says,  it  is  such  a  pity — but  we  must  hope  for  the 
best — it  will  come  some  day." 

' '  So  will  Christmas, ' '  replied  Myfanwy  with  a  sphinx- 
like smile ;  ' '  but  I  am  not  fond  of  waiting,  whatever  you 
may  be.  Well,  good-bye,  dear.  Do  not  be  frightened 
when  Williams  and  Edwards  send  in  their  bill — it  need 
not  be  paid  till  you  are  married,  remember. ' ' 

Alicia  paled.  The  memory  of  that  bill  was  more  to  her 
now  than  the  mere  fact  that  when  it  came,  it  would  mean 
a  demand  for  money.  That  she  might  manage ;  but  how 
about  the  claim  on  her  character  ?  For  it  would  be  a  big 
bill,  a  record  of  much  extravagance.  One  comfort  was 
that,  if  she  married  Mervyn — which  seemed  not  so  un- 
likely now  as  it  had  seemed  a  short  time  ago — he  would 
not  be  so  terribly  shocked;  or  at  any  rate  he  would  not 
be  in  a  position  to  throw  so  many  stones ! 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  215 

It  was  a  lovely  afternoon,  one  of  those  early  January 
days  when  earth  and  sea  and  sky  combine  to  play  a  trick 
on  the  world,  and  cheat  it  into  the  belief  that  winter  is 
over.  The  air,  too,  felt  lighter,  more  wholesome  to  Alicia, 
now  that  Myfanwy  Jones  had  presumably  left  the  vil- 
lage ;  presumably,  because,  though  Alicia  had  not  actually 
seen  her  go,  her  boxes  had  certainly  been  in  the  carrier's 
cart. 

Alicia  had  almost  made  up  her  mind  that  if  the  moun- 
tain would  not  come  to  Mahomet,  Mahomet  must  go  to 
the  mountain.  Another  Sunday  must  not  pass  without 
an  explanation  between  her  and  Mervyn ;  it  would  not  be 
right  to  allow  him  to  remain  without  reproof  and  exhor- 
tation. 

It  required  a  good  deal  of  courage,  for  she  was  by 
nature  timid ;  but  by  making  a  duty  of  it,  and  assuring 
herself  that  his  soul's  good  was  her  only  object,  she  suc- 
ceeded in  bracing  herself  up  to  sufficient  virtue  for  her 
task.  So,  feeling  there  was  no  time  like  the  present,  she 
spent  half  an  hour  in  making  herself  look  as  attractive 
as  she  could  in  her  singing  dress — and  that  had  been 
designed  with  considerable  care  for  appearances — and  set 
off  on  her  mission.  She  did  not  go  straight  to  the  min- 
ister's house,  which  stood  at  the  further  end  of  the  vil- 
lage— a  most  incongruous,  unhappy-looking  villa,  such  as 
one  sees  by  dozens  in  the  suburbs  of  any  large  town,  all 
stucco,  bow  windows,  and  gable  ends — for  that  might 
have  provoked  attention.  She  branched  off  to  the  left 
and  so,  going  up  the  School  Road,  was  prepared  to  make 
her  visit  on  the  return  journey  by  going  down  a  path- 
way which  led  from  the  school  towards  the  house.  She 
had  often  returned  from  class  thus  with  Mervyn,  choos- 
ing the  longer  road  for  the  sake  of  the  handsome  boy's 
company.  The  thought  made  her  mind  drift  back  to 
those  long  years  during  which  she  had  been  taught,  and 
had  taught,  so  many  things.  What  a  relief  it  had  been 
to  escape  from  living  by  rule;  so  much  time  for  this, 
so  much  time  for  that;  duty  punctual  as  the  clock,  de- 
pendent on  the  machinery,  certain  to  run  down  and 


216  4    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

stop  unless  it  received  some  continual  impetus  from 
without. 

— '  That  which  cometh  from  without/ — 

The  words  came  back  to  her  vaguely.  Yes !  she  had  been 
taught  so  many  things.  What  had  she  herself  learnt? 
How  many  four  shillings'  worth  of  stamps,  for  instance, 
had  she  not  saved  up  herself,  or  caused  her  pupils  to  save 
up.  Every  child  in  the  village  had  a  post-office  savings' 
bank  book.  They  had  been  taught  thrift.  But  every  one 
of  the  girls  would  do  as  she  had  done — run  into  debt  over 
their  clothes — or  at  least  put  their  money  on  their  backs. 
She  was  tired  of  it  all.  She  was  hungering  for  her  nat- 
ural work.-  She  wanted  to  be  the  wife  of  some  strong 
man,  bear  him  children,  and  live  immersed  in  household 
details.    That  was  her  metier;  she  felt  drawn  to  that. 

So,  as  she  turned  in  at  the  back  entrance  of  the  min- 
ister 's  house,  her  heart  was  soft ;  she  felt  in  a  sentimental 
mood.  The  past  was  past.  Most  men's  lives  held  some- 
thing that  was  not  quite — well,  quite  respectable — but 
in  this  case  there  would  be  earnest  repentance  to  make 
that  past  more — more  presentable. 

And  then  through  the  window  of  the  dining-room  she 
saw  a  group  of  two  people  standing,  their  faces  to  the 
fire,  their  backs  towards  her ;  but  there  could  be  no  doubt 
as  to  the  skin-tight  black  sheen  of  the  waist  round  which 
Mervyn's  arm  circled  in  all  the  security  of  possession. 
It  was  Myf anwy  's — Myf anwy  in  her  best  dress  also ! 

In  a  second  all  the  hot  Cymric  blood  which  lay  hidden 
somewhere  behind  Alicia's  almost  phlegmatic  calm  had 
leapt  up  in  resentment;  and  almost  before  she  realised 
what  she  was  doing,  she  had  passed  the  entrance  and 
stood  in  the  room,  challenging  those  two.  The  table  was 
laid  for  tea ;  there  was  an  air  of  placid  comfort,  of  as  it 
were  collusion,  which  gave  the  finishing-touch  to  her 
anger. 

"  So  you  have  not  gone  with  the  carrier,  Myf  anwy 
Jones  ?  ' '  she  said. 


A   SOYEREIQN   REMEDY  217 

Mervyn 's  arm  left  the  black-satin  waist  hastily,  but 
Myfanwy  did  not  budge.  She  simply  threw  a  backward 
glance  over  her  shoulder. 

"  Oh !  good  afternoon,  Alicia !  No !  I  did  not  go. 
Mervyn  and  I  are  to  drive  over  to  Llanilo  in  Thomas's 
waggonette,  as  soon  as  we  have  had  our  tea." 

In  an  instant  it  resolved  itself  into  a  duel  between  these 
two  women  for  the  possession  of  the  man  who  stood,  his 
beauty  somewhat  blurred  by  anxiety,  looking  like  a  fool 
between  them. 

"  But  I  have  come,"  replied  Alicia  firmly,  "  to  have  a 
talk  with  Mervyn  about — about  something ;  so,  perhaps, 
you  will  drive  alone  to  Llanilo,  Myfanwy.  It  might  be 
better. ' '  She  fixed  Mervyn  with  an  eye  that  held  in  it 
a  world  of  entreaty  besides  some  indignation. 

His  inward  uneasiness  felt  the  threat.  ' '  Perhaps  it 
would  be  better,  Myfanwy,"  he  said  helplessly.  "  We 
have  much  to  talk  over  and  arrange  before  we  start  again 
on — on  our  work. ' ' 

Myfanwy  turned  on  him  like  a  flash.  ' '  Will  you  hold 
your  tongue,  Mervyn  Pugh,"  she  said  magnificently. 
"  This  is  between  Alicia  Edwards  and  me."  Then  she 
turned  back  again  to  her  adversary,  "  Say  what  you 
will  to  him  now,  Alicia.  We  are  engaged  to  be  married, 
so  you  can  say  to  me  what  you  will  say  to  him. ' ' 

Alicia  gave  a  little  cry  of  real  dismay.  "  Oh  Mervyn! 
Say  it  is  not  true; — think  of  poor  silly  Gwen,  but  just 
dead!  "  she  pulled  herself  up,  being  in  truth  still  but 
half-hearted  in  her  desire  to  denounce. 

Myfanwy  shot  a  swift  glance  at  Mervyn ;  she  was  really 
and  honestly  fond  of  him,  and  the  idea,  at  any  rate, 
which  Alicia's  words  suggested  was  not  new  to  her.  Still 
no  matter  what  she  said  to  him  about  it  in  the  future, 
this  was  the  time  for  defence — quick,  ready  defence. 

"  Yes !  "she  said.  "  Gwen  is  dead,  so  why  should  you 
drag  her  out  of  the  grave,  poor  soul !  '  Let  the  dead  past 
bury  its  dead,'  Alicia,  you  learnt  that  in  school,  I  am 
sure.  And,  whatever  happens,  I  am  going  to  marry  Mer- 
vyn—of  that  you  may  be  sure. ' ' 


218 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


It  was  then  that  Alicia,  feeling  the  inward  certainty 
that  this  was  true,  that  her  bolt  had  failed  of  its  mark, 
gave  the  rein  to  denunciation. 

"  But  I  must  speak  to  him!  Oh  Mervyn!  Think, " 
she  cried,  her  voice  ringing  with  a  perfect  medley  of  emo- 
tion, "  you  who  have  saved  so  many,  think  of  your  own 
soul.  Think  how  the  soul  of  your  child,  think  how  the 
soul  of  poor  Gwen  cry  out  against  you !  " 

A  man's  step  on  the  gravel  outside  made  Myfanwy 
start  forward  with  a  muffled  exclamation. 

"Be  quiet,  will  you !  you  will  be  overheard — you — you 
will  ruin  him !    Will  you  hold  your  tongue  ?  "  she  cried. 

But  Alicia  was  past  worldly  wisdom;  even  with  My- 
fanwy's  strong  hand  threatening  her,  she  stood  her 
ground,  and  her  voice  rose — 

' '  Let  them  hear !  Let  all  the  world  know  that  Mervyn 
Pugh — Mervyn  the  good,  the  righteous,  is  Gwen's  se- 
ducer, the  father  of  her  child !  ' ' 

Then,  even  her  anger  failed  before  the  knowledge  that 
Morris  Pugh  stood  at  the  door  listening. 

With  a  muffled  cry  Mervyn  turned  and  flung  himself 
down  on  the  sofa,  his  face  crushed  into  the  hard  horse- 
hair cushions;  vaguely  he  felt  their  hardness  to  be  a 
shelter. 

Myfanwy,  looking  as  if  she  could  have  killed  Alicia, 
moved  to  him  and  laid  her  hand  softly,  protectingly  on 
his  shoulder. 

"  Do  not  fret,  Mervyn,"  she  said  coldly,  "  it  will  soon 
be  over." 

So  for  a  space  there  was  silence.  Then  Morris  Pugh 
braced  himself  to  the  task  which  was  his,  as  pastor  of 
these  wandering  sheep. 

"  As  you  stand  before  your  Maker,  Alicia  Edwards/' 
he  said,  bringing  his  hand  down  on  the  table  to  grip 
it  with  clenched  nervous  force,  "  is  this  accusation 
true?  " 

Her  answer  was  a  sudden  burst  of  tears,  "  Don't — 
don't  ask  me,"  she  sobbed. 

"  Is  it  true?  " 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  219 

His  voice  insistent,  almost  cold  in  its  very  insistence, 
would  take  no  denial. 

1 '  Yes !  ' '  The  assent  could  scarcely  be  heard  for  the 
sobs. 

Morris  Pugh  gave  a  sigh.  It  was  almost  as  if  all  that 
was  human  in  him  left  his  body  with  that  long,  laboured 
breath,  for  an  instant  afterwards  he  was  the  accuser,  the 
judge. 

' '  And  you — Mervyn  Pugh — God  forgive  you  for  bear- 
ing my  father's  honoured  name — have  done  this  wrong 
without  repentance.  You  have  stood  by  your  child 's  grave 
and  said  never  a  word — never  a  word  even  to  me,  your 
spiritual  guide,  although  I  asked  you,  remember  that! 
I  asked  you;  and  you  have  stood  before  the  Lord  all 
these  long  months,  eating  at  His  Table,  drinking  of  His 
Blood,  with  this  sin  lying  unconf  essed  in  your  heart !  And 
you  and  the  partner  of  your  sin  have  stood  together  be- 
fore the  Great  White  Throne,  your  voices  mingling  in 
God's  praise  while  your  bodies " 

Mervyn  started  to  his  feet. 

' '  Morris !  Morris !  before  Heaven,  that  is  not  true — no ! 
I  am  not  so  bad  as  that !  ' ' 

Checked  in  the  full  flow  of  his  superhuman  blame,  the 
minister  paused,  and  something  of  the  man  came  back 
to  him. 

1 '  I  will  say  nothing  of  myself, ' '  he  went  on,  ' '  of — of 
the  shame.  But  have  you  any  excuse?  Can  you  show 
just  cause  why  I  should  not  deal  with  you,  alas! —  a 
thousand  times  alas ! — my  brother — as  a  minister  of  God 
must  deal  with  the  unrepentant  sinner,  with  the  hypo- 
crite, with  the  man  who  has  defiled  the  innermost  sanc- 
tuary of  God's  temple?  " 

There  was  silence.  Only  round  Myfanwy's  full  lips 
showed  a  certain  impatience,  a  weariness  for  this  neces- 
sary fuss  to  subside,  and  leave  room  for  common  sense. 

"  So  you  have  no  excuse.  Then  prepare  for  the  con- 
demnation of  the  congregation.  Prepare  to  be  humbled 
to  the  dust  before  the  Lord. ' ' 

Myf anwy  shifted  impatiently.    ' '  What  good  will  that 


220  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

do?  It  will  only  humble  the  congregation,"  came  her 
clear,  full  voice;  "  It  will  only  be  a  paragraph  in  the 
papers. ' ' 

Morris  Pugh  winced.  "  I  thought  of  that  before," 
he  muttered.  "  God  forgive  me,  I  thought  of  it  before— 
too  much,  perhaps.  No!  "  he  added  firmly,  "  the  shame 
must  be  faced !  Yes,  Mervyn,  it  must  be  faced,  even  if 
our  mother " 

And  then,  with  a  cry,  Morris  Pugh  himself  was  on  his 
knees  by  the  table,  his  hands  clutching  at  its  rim,  his 
head  between  them  sinking  to  the  very  dust. 

1 '  Oh,  God  forgive  him !  Oh  God,  for  my  sake,  for  her 
sake,  forgive  him ! — for  the  sake  of  her  many  prayers  and 
tears,  forgive  him!  " 

Mervyn  stood  pale  as  death.  Alicia,  her  little  part  long 
since  played,  sobbed  softly  in  a  corner;  only  Myfanwy 
looked  at  them  all  three  almost  with  distaste. 

"  Mervyn  is  very  sorry,  I  am  sure  of  that — it  could 
not  have  been  worth  all  this— this  fuss,"  she  said  hard- 
ly; * '  but  why  should  shame  be  faced  when— when  every 
one  is  dead  and  buried  ?    Mervyn  can  go  away. ' ' 

' '  The  living  and  the  dead  are  one,  woman,  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lord !  ' '  replied  Morris,  his  righteous  wrath  re- 
aroused  by  her  words.  ' '  Mervyn  may  go  if  he  likes,  but  I, 
his  brother,  will  denounce  him  before  the  congregation. ' ' 

His  lips,  his  hands,  were  trembling,  but  his  voice  was 
firm. 

Mervyn  sat  down  on  the  sofa  again  and  covered  his 
handsome  face  with  his  hands.  His  mind  was  in  a  whirl, 
its  chief  thought  being  abject  remorse  for  his  brother's 
sake — for  his  mother's. 

"  It  is  best  so,  Myfanwy,"  he  muttered  hoarsely;  "  Go 
— it — it  is  all  I  can  do  for — for  them  now." 

She  took  up  her  cloak  and  hat  without  a  word.  There 
was  no  use  in  trying  to  persuade  people  when  they  were 
so  exalted. 

"  Yes,  I  will  go,"  she  said,  "  but  you  are  very  silly, 
Mervyn.  Come,  Alicia !  You  have  done  enough  mischief 
for  one  day,  I  am  sure." 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  221 

Alicia  followed  her  meekly,  feeling  not  in  the  least 
ashamed  of  the  role  she  had  played;  for  these  violent 
emotions  were  to  her  part  of  the  religious  stock-in-trade. 
By  and  by  they  would  quiet  down,  Mervyn  would  make  a 
noble  confession,  and  eventually  he  would  rise  superior 
to  all  these  troubles ;  above  all,  rise  superior  to  Myfanwy. 

The  girls  did  not  say  one  word  to  each  other  as  they 
went  back  to  the  village  together.  Any  one  meeting  them 
might  have  judged  them  the  best  of  friends;  only  as 
Myfanwy  branched  off  to  the  smith's  cottage  she  paused 
a  moment  to  say  with  a  smile — 

"  Some  day  I  will  pay  you  out  for  this,  Alicia  Ed- 
wards— so,  mark  my  words,  you  will  pay !  ' ' 

"  May  you  be  forgiven,  Myfanwy  Jones, "  retorted 
Alicia  with  spirit ;  * '  I  have  but  done  my  duty. ' ' 

Left  alone  by  themselves  the  brothers  reverted  of  neces- 
sity to  more  humble,  more  homely  relations.  The  right- 
eous wrath  gave  place  to  real  grief,  the  blank,  hopeless 
remorse  to  real  regret. 

By  the  time  that  the  housekeeper  came  in  to  clear  away 
the  almost  untouched  tea,  they  had  both  accepted  the 
position  in  so  far  as  it  could  be  accepted.  There  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  face  this  public  confession,  and  by 
so  doing  make  what  reparation  could  be  thus  tardily 
made.  Mervyn,  indeed,  was  by  far  the  more  cheerful 
when  the  time  came  to  say  good-night.  He  had  barely 
had  time  to  think;  the  relief  of  having  touched  bottom, 
as  it  were,  was  great;  he  felt,  in  fact,  as  a  repentant 
criminal  might  do  on  his  last  night  on  earth,  as  if  the 
morrow  which  was  to  bring  expiation  must  also  bring 
pardon  and  peace. 

They  had  spent  the  evening  together  on  the  highest 
possible  plane  of  religious  exaltation,  and  it  was  Mervyn 
who  gripped  his  brother's  hand  and  said  "  Courage!  " 
out  of  the  fulness  of  his  emotion.  His  face  looked  al- 
most saintly  as  he  said  it. 

An  hour  later,  indeed,  when  Morris — who  had  lingered 
near  the  dying  fire,  beset,  now  he  was  alone,  by  almost 
unbearable  grief — looked  in  to  see  if  his  brother  were 


222  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

asleep,  he  found  him  lying  like  a  child,  smiling  in  his 
dreams. 

Morris  gave  a  faint  sob,  and  Mervyn  stirred  in  his 
sleep.  "  Mother/'  he  said  hurriedly,  softly — "  Mother, 
dear,  dear  mother — I  must. ' ' 

Instinctively  Morris  blew  out  the  light  he  held,  lest  it 
might  wake  the  dreamer  from  his  dream ;  so  in  the  moon- 
light he  stood,  torn  asunder  by  love  and  grief,  watching 
the  dim  peaceful  form  upon  the  bed. 

Suddenly  he  turned  and,  closing  the  door  silently  be- 
hind him,  went  downstairs  once  more.  Outside  the  nar- 
row walls  of  the  house,  the  moonlight  slumbered  peace- 
fully upon  the  everlasting  hills.  Surely  somewhere 
beyond  the  narrow  walls  of  this  world's  judgment  slept 
eternal  Peace. 

An  instant  afterwards  the  front  door  closed  softly,  and 
Morris  Pugh,  leaving  his  brother  asleep,  had  gone  to  find 
wisdom  where  he  had  often  sought  it  of  late  in  the 
temple  not  made  with  hands. 

It  must  have  been  an  hour  later  that  Mervyn  woke, 
roused  by  a  pebble  at  his  window.  He  sat  up  with 
blurred  consciousness,  wondering  vaguely  what  it  was, 
until  another  pebble  struck  the  pane,  and  a  voice  cried 
in  a  soft  whisper,  ' '  Mervyn !  ' ' 

Myf anwy !  by  all  that  was  strange !  Then  in  a  second 
the  whole  memory  of  what  had  happened  came  back  to 
him;  but  it  came  back  to  find  him,  as  it  were,  a  giant 
refreshed  with  sleep.  None  of  us  are  really  the  same 
for  two  consecutive  hours,  and  many  a  man  will  brave 
that  in  the  morning,  from  which  he  would  shrink  at 
night.  And  there,  as  he  peered  through  the  curtain,  was 
Myfanwy,  sure  enough,  beckoning  to  him  to  come  down. 
A  sight  sufficient  to  bring  combativeness  to  any  young 
blood,  even  without  those  two  hours  of  blessed  rest  in 
sleep. 

"  Mervyn,"  she  said,  when  five  minutes  after,  their 
lips  met  in  a  long  kiss ;  "  I  have  come  for  you.  See  how 
I  love  you,  to  do  this  thing  which  might  ruin  any  poor 
girl's  reputation.    You  have  done  wrong,  my  poor  boy, 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  223 

very  wrong;  but  so  have  many  of  the  others  who  are  so 
saintly.  And  why  should  you  stay  to  be  prayed  over 
by  them — by  Alicia  Edwards  too!  I  will  not  have  it! 
There  will  be  no  more  me  if  you  stop,  Mervyn.  Come 
now  with  me  to  Blackborough,  the  waggonette  is  waiting 
up  the  road  at  the  bridge ;  we  can  catch  the  three  o  'clock 
mail  at  Llanilo.  If  you  come,  Mervyn,  I  will  marry  you 
in  three  days  at  the  registrar's  office." 

"  But,"  he  gasped,  half -drunk  with  her  kisses,  half- 
stunned  by  his  remembrances. 

She  stamped  her  foot.  "  You  must  decide.  I  cannot 
stop  here  all  night,  some  one  may  come.  Oh!  Mervyn! 
Mervyn!  do  you  not  feel  that  you  were  not  made  for 
this  narrow  life?  You — you  are  no  worse  than  others, 
and  you  have  brains.  You  can  make  money  if  you  will 
in  the  world,  but  not  here. ' ' 

Those  two  hours  of  blessed  sleep !  How  they  had  ob- 
literated that  stress  of  over-wrought  emotion,  and  how 
his  young  blood  leapt  up  in  assent.    But  Morris 

Her  instinct  was  keen — ' '  And  see  you,  Mervyn,  it  will 
be  better  for  Morris,  too !  If  you  go,  why  should  he 
speak?  What  is  confession  without  a  culprit?  Come! 
you  can  write  to  him  from  Blackborough.  Come — or 
there  is  no  more  me  for  you  from  to-night. ' ' 

When  Morris  Pugh  returned  from  the  temple  that  is 
made  without  hands  an  hour  later,  the  house  lay  very 
still  in  the  moonlight.  He  paused  at  his  brother's  door 
to  listen.  There  was  no  sound.  So  he  passed  on  to  his 
own  room,  took  his  father's  Bible,  his  mother's  picture, 
the  few  odd  pounds  he  had  in  the  house,  and  so  passed 
downstairs  again  to  the  writing-table  in  the  study,  where 
he  had  thought  out  so  many  sermons,  so  many  appeals 
to  his  wandering  flock.  But  it  was  neither  a  sermon  nor 
an  appeal  which  he  set  down  on  paper  and  left  lying 
where  Mervyn  would  see  it  next  morning.  Rather  was 
it  a  confession,  for  this  is  how  it  ran : — 

"  Wisdom  has  come  to  me  among  the  eternal  hills, 
brother.  Go  your  way.  Be  one  of  the  saints  in  light.  I 
will  go  mine  since  I  cannot  stay  and  remain  silent.    May 


224  A-   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

God  in  His  mercy  preserve  you  always  from  the  judg- 
ment of  men,  and  give  you  His  Grace. ' ' 

It  lay  there  all  night  with  the  moonlight  shining  on  it. 
Then  the  moonbeams  faded  and  the  greyness  of  the  false 
dawn  found  it  lying  there  still. 

But  the  breath  of  the  real  dawn  winning  its  way 
through  the  door  opened  by  the  housekeeper  who  came 
to  set  the  room  in  order,  tilted  it  into  the  waste-paper 
basket,  whence  swiftly  it  made  its  way  to  the  fire  by  the 
hands  of  tidiness. 

Thus  Mervyn  would  have  had  no  chance  of  seeing  it, 
even  if  he  had  been  there. 

But  he  was  not. 


CHAPTER    XIX 

Peter  Ramsay  put  down  the  letter  with  a  low  whistle 
and  stood  staring  at  his  half-packed  portmanteau.  Then 
he  took  up  the  letter  again  and  re-read  it. 

There  was  no  doubt  about  it !  The  governing  body  of 
St.  Helena's  Hospital  for  Children  offered  him  the  ap- 
pointment of  resident  physician  at  a  salary  of  £600  a 
year. 

But  where  the  deuce  was  the  hospital  ? 

Egworth.  That  was  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Black- 
borough  ;  the  most  desirable  suburb,  for  it  stood  on  a  hill, 
and  so  above  the  smoke-pall  of  the  factory  city.  But  he 
remembered  no  hospital  there.  Once  upon  a  time  some 
speculator  had  built  a  huge  framework  of  a  place  that 
was  to  have  been  a  hotel,  or  a  hydropathic,  or  something 
of  the  sort,  on  the  site  of  the  old  manor  house  at  the  very 
top  of  the  rise.  He  remembered  Phipp  's  Polly,  as  it  was 
called,  with  its  cold  deserted  look-out  of  roughly-glazed 
windows ;  but  of  hospitals — nothing. 

It  must  be  some  small  place.  Yet  still  £600  a  year  was 
liberal. 

' '  If  you  would  prefer  to  see  the  hospital  before  mak- 
ing a  decision  the  authorities  will  be  happy  to  show  you 
over,  and  I  may  mention  that  the  governing  body  will 
be  in  committee  on  the  18th  of  this  month,  and  could 
give  you  an  interview. ' ' 

Thus  wrote  the  secretary. 

The  18th?  That  was  to-day.  The  letter  had  been 
delayed,  partly  because  he  had  changed  his  lodgings, 
partly  because  he  had  run  out  of  town  from  Saturday 
to  Monday  to  see  a  friend  before  leaving  for  Vienna.  Of 
course  he  could  put  off  his  journey  for  a  day  or  two  and 
still  arrive  easily  before  the  date  he  had  originally  fixed. 

225 


226  &■   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

On  the  other  hand,  as  it  was  but  a  two  hours'  run  to 
Blackborough,  why  should  he  not  go  down  by  the  12 
o'clock  luncheon  train,  and  be  back  in  time  to  start,  if 
need  be,  by  the  Oriental  express  in  the  evening?  No 
reason  at  all.  He  would  do  this,  and  he  might  find  time, 
even  if  St.  Helena's  proved  to  be  a  fraud,  to  look  in  at 
St.  Peter's  into  the  bargain. 

"  St.  Helena's  Hospital,"  said  the  cabman  at  the  sta- 
tion confidentially,  "  that'll  be  the  no'o  one  as  the  Syn- 
dicate 'as  bin  makin'  out  o'  Phipp's  Folly." 

Out  of  Phipp  's  Folly !  So  that  was  it ;  quaint  certain- 
ly. "I  suppose  so, ' '  he  replied ;  ' '  they  must  have  been 
pretty  nippy  about  it. ' ' 

Cabby's  face  fell.  "Nippy,"  he  echoed,  "Nippy 
ain't  in  it.  They've  'ad  workmen  over  from  the  States 
and  fitters  from  Germany,  an'  a  regular  cordon  round 
the  place  to  prevent  union  men  havin'  a  look  in.  One 
thing  is,  it  must  have  cost  'em  a  pot  of  money — but — 
but  they  done  it!  And  they  do  say  as  it  is  fust  class, 
and  the  old  gardens  a  sight.  So  pop  in,  sir.  I  '11 
have  you  there  in  twenty  minutes,  if  you  '11  give  me  three 
shillin'." 

The  three  shillings  were  promised  and  Peter  Ramsay 
spent  those  twenty  minutes  in  pleasurable  excitement. 
This  was  something  out  of  the  common.  If  it  had  been  well 
done  Phipp 's  Folly  might  be  an  ideal  hospital,  and  there 
was  something  stimulating,  something  which  stirred  the 
imagination  in  this  sudden  development.  Of  course 
money  could  do  everything,  but  how  seldom  money  was 
spent  in  this  way;  for  money  in  esse  always  had  that 
postulate  of  more  money  in  posse  behind  it.  There  was 
only  one  man  he  knew 

A  quick  wonder  was  checked  by  the  swift  turn  of  the 
cab  through  the  wide  open  iron  gates,  while  the  new 
gravel  of  a  broad  semicircular  sweep  crisped  under  the 
wheels.  But  there  was  nothing  to  tell  of  recent  work  in 
the  green  lawns  with  their  old  spreading  cedars,  which 
lay  between  the  two  gates.  And  the  facade  itself !  What 
an  enormous  improvement  those  wide  balconies  were,  and 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  227 

how  useful  they  might  be.  The  whole  place  had  an  air 
of  having  been  in  use  for  years,  and  as  the  cab  stopped 
a  hall  porter  in  livery  came  alertly  down  the  porch  steps, 
followed  by  a  hall  boy.  That  was  a  trifle  too  much  for 
a  good  thing !  No !  there  was  another  cab  driving  in  by 
the  other  gate  which  explained  the  boy. 

Peter  Ramsay  paused  to  give  a  general  look  round. 
Certainly  so  far  as  the  outside  went,  nothing  could  be 
more  perfect.  What  a  splendid  playground  for  the  chil- 
dren the  garden  would  be  sloping  away  in  varying  de- 
grees of  wildness  to  a  real  dingle  at  the  further  foot  of 
the  hill.  And  that  glass  palace  attached  to  the  left  must 
be  a  winter  garden.  On  this  warm  day  the  doors  were 
open  and  Dr.  Ramsay  could  see  swings,  see-saws,  rocking- 
horses,  tall  flowering  shrubs,  and — yes!  birds,  actually 
birds  feeding  on  the  floor  or  flying  about,  apparently 
content. 

Close  to  the  porch  against  the  half -basement  story,  he 
could  see  through  the  glazed  doors  rows  of  perambula- 
tors, invalid  carriages,  and  advancing  to  meet  him  with 
welcoming  wave  of  the  tail  was  a  magnificent  Newfound- 
land dog,  evidently  intended  to  be  an  important  factor 
in  the  establishment. 

There  was  imagination  everywhere. 

"  Dr.  Ramsay!  "  came  an  astonished  voice  at  his  el- 
bow. He  turned  to  see  Mrs.  Tresillian  pausing  in  the 
very  act  of  giving  two  shillings  to  her  cabman. 

"  Mrs.  Tresillian,"  he  echoed,  "  how — how  very " 

She  stepped  forward  and  looked  at  him — he  stepped 
forward  and  looked  at  her.  Then  with  one  voice  they 
both  said: 

"  Ned!  I  felt  it  was  Ned!  " 

Helen  Tresillian  gave  a  sigh  of  relief.  "  I  have  been 
wondering,  ever  since  I  got  this,"  she  held  out  a  letter, 
and  Dr.  Ramsay  mechanically  held  out  his  also,  "  who 
it  could  be  who  was  offering  me  this  place  of  matron, 
and  now — dear  me!  How  silly  of  me  not  to  think  of 
Ned  before.  But  you  see  I  have  been  away  in  Scotland — 
I  only  came  back  to-day — and  I  had  not  heard  any  Black- 


228  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

borough  news  since  I  was  here  before  Christmas — so  I 
could  hardly  guess,  could  I  ?  "  She  cast  a  glance  around 
her.  ' '  But  this  is  Ned,  of  course.  It  is  like  a  fairy  tale. 
Let  us  go  in  and  see  it.    I  expect  it  is — perfect. ' ' 

They  went  up  the  steps,  solemnly  followed  by  the  New- 
foundland, the  hall  porter,  and  the  hall  boy ;  but  on  the 
threshold  Helen  paused. 

' '  Isn  't  it  like  a  fairy  tale  ?  ' '  she  repeated.  ' '  '  And  in 
an  instant  there  appeared  a  most  beautiful  hospital  all 
fitted  with  cots  and  medicine  bottles  and  nurses  ' — Ahl 
here  comes  one  of  them.  How  quaint — but  oh!  how 
sensible!  " 

It  was  rather  a  buxom  little  person  who  came  out  from 
a  side-door.  Something  both  in  her  fair  smiling  face  and 
her  dress  recalled  an  old  Dutch  picture.  Her  neat  white 
stockings  and  black  rubber-soled,  heelless  shoes  were  well 
seen  below  a  dark-blue  cotton  dress,  full  in  the  skirt,  loose 
in  the  body,  just  fastened  round  the  throat  without  any 
attempt  at  a  collar,  and  ending  short  above  the  elbow. 
On  her  head,  almost  completely  covering  her  smooth  fair 
hair,  she  wore  a  white  linen  cap  gathered  in  to  tightness 
with  a  narrow  tape  tied  at  the  back. 

Dr.  Ramsay  gave  a  big  sigh.  ' '  By  George !  "  he  mur- 
mured, "  that's  workmanlike  if  you  like." 

"  I  was  to  give  you  these,"  said  the  newcomer  holding 
out  two  notes,  one  addressed  to  "  Peter  Ramsay,  Esq., 
M.D.,  F.R.C.S.,  Medical  Officer  (designate),"  the  other 
to  "  Mrs.  Tresillian,  Matron  (designate),  St.  Helena's 
Hospital,  Egworth." 

"It  is  from  Ned,"  said  Helen  softly,  handing  him 
hers  when  she  had  read  it.  "I  expect  he  has  written  you 
the  same — I  think  he  is  certain  to  have  written  just  the 
same. ' ' 

They  were  in  fact  the  same,  word  for  word,  short,  and 
very  much  to  the  point. 

"  Dear  Ramsay  (or  Helen),— I  have  built  this  hos- 
pital for  you  and  No.  36  in  the  Queen's  Ward.  You  will 
find  him  waiting  for  you  in  No.  7  overlooking  the  garden. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  229 

He  is  at  present  sole  occupant  of  the  hospital.  I  hope 
you  will  accept  the  responsibility  of  killing  or  curing 
him.  If  you  don't  I  must  find  someone  else  as  St. 
Helena's  Hospital — which  by  the  way  has  a  permanent 
endowment  of  £200,000 — cannot  possibly  remain  without 
a  doctor  or  a  matron.  So  don't  say  '  No/  unless  you 
really  dislike  the  place.    Yours, 

"  Blackborough." 

The  tears  for  some  reason  or  other  came  into  Helen's 
eyes,  and  even  Peter  Ramsay  winked.  It  was  a  fairy 
tale  indeed. 

"  These  are  your  rooms  sir,"  said  the  little  Dutch 
nurse, ' '  The  Governing  body  desire  me  to  say  they  would 
be  pleased  to  alter  them  in  any  reasonable  way  you 
might  desire." 

Peter  Ramsay  looked  round  the  wide  rooms  whose 
walls  were  almost  all  cupboards,  which  was  heated  by  a 
self -feeding  stove,  where  the  doors  and  drawers  shut 
automatically,  and  the  very  wash-hand  basin  tilted  itself 
empty,  with  a  distinctly  annoyed  smile.  "  I  don't  be- 
lieve even  I  could  be  untidy  in  it,"  he  said  grudgingly, 
"  But  if  you  will  excuse  me,  nurse — who  are  the  Gov- 
erning Body?  " 

"Oh!  there  are  several  gentlemen,  I  believe;  but  I 
only  know  the  one  name — Lord  Blackborough.  I  have 
not  seen  him.  He  is  to  be  here  to-day,  however— it  is 
their  first  Committee  meeting,  you  know." 

"  it — it  was  built  by  a  Syndicate,  wasn't  it?  "  asked 
Helen. 

"Yes;  by  a  Syndicate.  I  don't  think  Lord  Black- 
borough  had  anything  to  do  with  it.  These  are  your— 
that  is,  the  matron's  rooms." 

Helen  gave  a  little  cry.  They  were  the  replica  of  her 
rooms  at  the  Keep,  even  to  the  row  of  flower-pots  on 
the  window-sills  and  the  little  niche  for  her  prie-dieu 
chair.  What  a  memory  he  had — and  what  an  imag- 
ination ! 

"  They  must  have  spent  any  amount  of  money  over 


230 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


it,"  continued  the  buxom  little  nurse,  "  for  everything 
is  quite  perfect — on  a  small  scale  of  course — I  mean  in 
comparison  with  the  London  hospitals ;  but  none  of  them, 
so  far  as  I  know,  is  half  so  well  equipped  for  children. 
It  will  be  a  pleasure  to  work  here. ' ' 

She  threw  open  the  door  of  a  ward  and  introduced 
Nurse  Mary,  an  elderly  woman  also  in  the  quaintly  Dutch 
dress. 

' '  There  are  only  four  cots  in  each  ward, ' '  said  Sister 
Ann,  "  and  they  have  all  a  wide  balcony  on  to  which 
the  cots  can  be  wheeled,  and  every  ward  in  this  part 
of  the  house  is  practically  self-supporting."  She  threw 
open  another  side  door  in  the  landing.  "  The  bath-room 
and  the  nurses'  room  are  over  there  and  this  is  the  pan- 
try.    There  is  a  lift  from  the  kitchen." 

Everything  in  truth  was  perfect,  and  Peter  Ramsay 
gave  a  great  sigh  of  content  over  the  marble  operating- 
room  with  its  glass  casing,  its  endless  silver-plated  taps, 
and  tubes,  and  sprays,  and  levers. 

"  I  believe,"  he  said  suddenly,  excitedly,  "  It  is  a 
replica  of  Pagenheim's — yes!  I  am  certain  that  is  his 
new  adjustor — "  He  was  deep  in  the  mechanism  in  a 
moment. 

"  There  were  German  or  Austrian  workmen  at  it,  I 
know,"  said  Sister  Ann  beaming  over  with  content, 
"  But  it  is  absolutely  complete,  isn't  it?  " 

Truly  it  was  complete  in  every  detail.  A  very  gem 
amongst  hospitals,  a  very  pearl  of  places  where  disease 
and  death  could  be  faced  at  close  quarters.  Yes!  even 
to  the  little  marble  mortuary  where  carven  biers  stood 
waiting  under  the  shadow  of  a  great  white  cross. 

"  We  must  see  number  36,"  said  Helen  to  Dr.  Ramsay, 
"  It  was  built  for  him  remember,  as  well  as  for  us." 

The  plural  pronoun  gave  Dr.  Ramsay  a  little  thrill 
which  he  shook  off  impatiently. 

"  That  is  the  worst  part  of  it,"  he  said,  "  I  am  by  no 
means  sure  about  No.  36." 

But  the  first  sight  of  the  boy  who  was  playing  draughts 
with  his  nurse  in  a  great  wide  play-room  with  a  lift  from 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  231 

it  to  the  winter-garden  below,  set  him  wondering  if  in 
very  truth  he  could  not  set  those  crooked  things  straight. 

"  The  Secretary's  compliments,  please,"  said  the  hall 
porter  when  they  found  themselves  back  in  the  vestibule, 
"  and  the  Governing  Body  will  be  glad  to  see  you,  when 
you  are  disengaged." 

They  looked  at  one  another.  They  had  lingered  over 
their  inspection ;  it  was  already  close  on  four  o'clock,  and 
if  the  Oriental  mail  had  to  be  caught  Peter  Ramsay  must 
leave  at  the  half  hour. 

If?  .  .  . 

It  did  not  take  him  long  to  decide.  He  thought  of 
the  appeal  in  those  words  "Don't  say  'No,'  unless  you 
dislike  the  place."  He  would  not  at  any  rate  go  to 
Vienna  that  night. 

"lam  disengaged  now,"  he  said,  looking  at  Helen 
Tresillian,  "  if  you  are." 

So  they  followed  their  guide  down  a  passage  to  the 
right  wing  of  the  house  where  he  knocked  at  a  door  la- 
belled Secretary's  Office.  A  small  man  sadly  hump- 
backed, but  with  a  quick,  intelligent  face  and  a  most  de- 
termined chin,  rose  as  they  entered  and  bowed. 

"  If  you  would  kindly  step  within,"  he  said,  opening 
an  inner  door,  "  Dr.  Ramsay  and  Mrs.  Tresillian,  sir." 

The  door  closed  behind  them  and — and 

Ned  Blackborough  jumped  up  from  a  comfortable 
chair  by  the  fire  and  came  forward  with  outstretched 
hands. 

"  By  George!  I  was  nearly  asleep.  What  a  time 
you've  been!  I  thought  you  must  have  gone  away  dis- 
gusted. ' ' 

"  My  dear  Ned !  "  gasped  Mrs.  Tresillian,  "  you  don  t 
surely  mean  that  you— you  only— are  the  Governing 
Body?" 

' '  If  you  will  sit  down  and  pour  us  out  some  tea,  he 
said  coolly,  pointing  to  a  little  table  laid  out  by  the  fire, 
* '  I  will  tell  you  what  I  am — or  rather  what  I  am  not — 
for  I  have  been  most  things  this  last  month.  I  had  no 
idea  it  would  have  been  such  a  business." 


232  ^   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

He  might  have  said  he  had  had  no  idea  it  would  cost 
so  much  money,  but  he  did  not,  for  to  him  the  only  use 
of  money  was  to  spend  it.  So  as  they  drank  their  tea, 
he  told  them  how  the  idea  had  come  to  him  before  Christ- 
mas, when  Helen  had  first  told  him  of  No.  36  and  the  dis- 
cussion concerning  the  pot  of  beer  had  begun.  How  he 
had  rushed  everybody,  bribing  everybody  to  unheard-of 
haste.  Just  a  month,  he  said,  from  start  to  finish;  but 
he  had  had  to  get  bricklayers,  plasterers,  painters  over, 
by  wire,  from  the  States,  and  buy  all  the  fittings  in  Ger- 
many. It  was  very  unpatriotic,  of  course,  but  what  could 
one  do  when  the  Trades '  Unions  would  only  allow  a  man 
to  lay  one-half  the  number  of  bricks  in  a  day  that  the 
Americans  laid,  and  when  English  firms  talked  of  Christ- 
mas Day,  Boxing  Day  and  the  general  holiday  disloca- 
tion of  trade?  He  never  could  have  done  it  but  for 
"Woods,  the  little  dumpity  who  had  introduced  them. 
The  man  was  an  old  watchmaker  who  had  lost  employ- 
ment through  the  Swiss  competition,  and  who  had  had 
the  pluck  to  spend  his  last  pound  or  two  in  going  over 
to  Geneva  to  see  how  it  was  that  the  foreigner  could 
work  cheaper.  He,  Ned,  had  come  across  him  in  the 
park  one  night  and  had  lent  him — only  lent  him,  of 
course,  with  no  hope  of  ever  seeing  him  or  it  again — a 
sovereign!  But  the  fellow  had  come  back  and  had  re- 
paid the  sovereign !  He  had  written  a  pamphlet  on  his 
views  and  sold  it  in  the  streets.  So  ? — so  they  had  joined 
hands,  being  of  the  same  way  of  thinking. 

"  I  was  awfully  afraid  when  we  were  down  at  Plas 
Af on,  Helen, ' '  he  said,  ' '  that  the  thing  would  get  blown 
upon;  what  with  all  the  telegrams  and  the  people  who 
came  to  see  me." 

' '  But  you  told  me, ' '  she  replied  reproachfully,  ' '  that 
it  was  mostly  about  that  strike  at  the  works. ' ' 

"  So  it  was — partly, ' '  he  answered  with  a  smile.  Then 
he  looked  grave.  "  I'll  tell  you  what,  I've  been  busy 
this  last  fortnight,  and  no  mistake." 

1  With  the  strike,"  she  asked  quickly. 

' '  Yes !  with  the  strike, ' '  he  answered  after  a  pause. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  233 

"  I  went  into  the  whole  thing  from  the  beginning,  and  I 
found  that  those  particular  factories  had  been  working 
at  a  loss  for  the  last  three  years.  I  showed  the  accounts 
to  the  men,  and  pointed  out  that  under  the  circumstances 
no  master  could  be  expected  to  accede  to  a  demand  for  a 
rise  in  wages.  They  wouldn't  listen — I  suppose,  really, 
they  couldn't  listen,  so  I  closed  the  works,  gave  them  each 
a  month's  pay  in  their  pockets,  and  told  them  I  hoped 
they'd  find  a  better  master.  I  couldn't  do  anything  else 
in  common  fairness.    It  comes  to  that  in  the  end. 

He  walked  to  the  window  moodily  and  looked  out,  then 
turned  to  them  with  one  of  his  sudden  brilliant  smiles. 

"  And  you,  good  people?  What  have  you  decided; 
but  perhaps  I  had  better  give  you  a  short  outline  of  what 
St.  Helena's  Hospital  is  to  be." 

"  In  the  first  place,  Woods  is  to  be  the  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  with  a  staff  under 
him.  There  is  to  be  no  governing  body,  but  the  money 
will  be  vested  in  a  trust,  and  the  whole  staff  of  the  hos- 
pital shall  form  a  general  committee.  This  will  ensure 
the  appointment  of  really  reliable  persons  all  through. 
Sister  Ann — you  saw  her — she  has  every  diploma  under 
the  sun,  and  is  as  hard  as  nuts— is,  for  the  present,  head 
under  you,  Ramsay,  of  the  nursing  department.  You  are 
head,  for  the  present,  of  the  medical  and  surgical,  with 
help  as  required,  and  Helen  here  is  to  boss  the  whole  lot 
of  you  in  housekeeping — it  is  really  what  you  are  cut 
out  for,  you  know,  Helen,  though  you  did  fuss  over  the 
chauffeur  dinners. ' ' 

"  But  I  don't  quite  see  why,"  began  Peter  Ramsay 
argumentatively,  "  all  this  has  to  be  done.  If  it  was  to 
provide  me " 

Ned  Blackborough  interrupted  him.  "  It  was  to  sup- 
ply vou — and  the  world,"  he  said  almost  sarcastically — 
"  with  a  place  in  which  there  were  no  vested  interests. 
It  was  to  provide  you— and  a  few  other  working  men 
and  women— with  a  place  here  they  could  work  without 
let  or  hindrance,  where  they  were  responsible  for  the 
whole  show— yes !  even  for  those  who  were  to  come  after 


234  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

them.  Don't  bring  in  any  one,  Ramsay,  because  he  is  a 
brilliant  operator;  pay  him,  if  you  like,  to  come  in  and 
operate,  but  keep  your  staff  good  men  and  true,  who  will 
try  to  secure  an  apostolic  succession  of  good  men  and 
true.  Then — then  no  one  will  quarrel  over  a  pint  of 
beer !    Do  you  accept  ?  ' ' 

"  I  accepted  from  the  very  beginning,  Ned,"  said 
Helen  quickly;  "  the  moment  I  saw  the  Newfoundland 
dog,  I " 

Ned  laughed.  "  I  thought  of  bringing  your  father's 
retriever;  but  he  wasn't  warranted  with  children — so 
I  got  that  bumbler. ' ' 

Peter  Ramsay  was  taking  his  turn  at  the  window,  look- 
ing out  with  eyes  that  had  a  blur  in  them.  Suddenly  he 
wheeled 

' '  Yes !  I  accept,  Lord  Blackborough,  and — and  may 
Heaven  do  so  and  to  me  and  more  also  if " 

He  wrung  Ned 's  hand  instead  of  finishing  his  sentence. 

Lord  Blackborough  threw  himself  into  the  armchair 
and  stretched  out  his  legs  in  relief. 

' '  Nunc  dimittis, ' '  he  said, ' '  and  now  for  a  few  details. 
You  won 't  be  able  to  start,  of  course,  for  some  time.  The 
place  is  fairly  dry,  having  been  roofed  over,  you  re- 
member, but  some  of  the  partition  work  is  a  bit  damp, 
though  we've  had  it  all  dried  as  well  as  we  could,  and 
your  rooms  are  dog  dry.  So  is  Number  Seven  ward. 
But  for  a  while  you  will  have  to  go  slow.  Sister  Ann, 
Woods,  and  the  housekeeper — I  hope  you  will  like  her, 
Helen ;  if  you  don 't  give  her  the  sack,  for  she  will  have 
her  vote  in  the  housekeeping  committee,  though  of  course 
the  under  servants  won't — or,  at  any  rate,  only  on  cer- 
tain points.  You  will  find  Woods  has  it  all  worked  out, 
however,  he  has  a  head  like  an  American  roll-top  desk. 
Well!  those  three  can  manage,  so  if  you  want  any  spe- 
cial fit-up Oh !  by  the  way,  I  've  left  the  instruments 

to  you,  Ramsay,  except  the  ordinary  ones.  Woods  has 
enough  in  hand  to  pay " 

"  And  what  is  to  become  of  you,  Ned,"  asked  Helen 
anxiously,  noting  a  certain  jumpiness  of  insouciance  in 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  235 

her  cousin's  manner,  a  certain,  almost  uncanny,  clear- 
ness in  his  eyes.    "  Are  you  going  back  to  New  Park?  ' 

' '  Ye  gods  and  little  fishes !  No !  "  he  ejaculated.  ' '  Do 
I  look,  Helen,  like  a  churchwarden,  or  any  one  else  who 
would  find  comfort  in  Turkey  carpets  ?  I,  my  dear  child, 
am  going  to  find  rest  unto  my  soul  in  my  own  way.  I — 
I  am  going  to  the  Grecian  Archipelago!  " 

"  My  dear  Ned!  "  she  laughed,  "  don't  be  so  ridicu- 
lous !    What  are  you  going  to  do  ?    You  look  tired !  " 

"  Tired !  "  he  echoed,  with  a  quaint  hint  of  a  break  in 
his  voice;  "  I  should  think  I  was  tired!  So  would 
you  be  if  you  had  to  consort  with — how  is  it  Walt  Whit- 
man puts  it  ? — '  tinsmiths,  locksmiths,  and  they  who  work 
with  the  hammer,  cabmen  and  mothers  of  large  families. ' 
I  know  now  how  my  uncle  must  have  felt.  Excuse  me, 
Helen,  but  I  am  a  little  bit  harassed.  You  don't  know 
what  I've  had  to  do  and  haven't  had  to  do  over  this  busi- 
ness; but  I've  got  through  it  without  any  one  guessing  I 
was  the  syndicate.  However,  since  I've  started  you,  I 
really  am  off  to  Athens  to-night.  Afraid  I  shan't  have 
your  company  on  the  Oriental  express — ah,  Ramsay? 
Now,  as  I  have  to  see  Ted  Cruttenden— who  is  just  back, 
I  hear,  from  Paris— before  I  start,  I  '11  say  good-bye." 

"  But  will  you  catch  the  express?  "  asked  Dr.  Ram- 
say incredulously. 

"  I  expect  so.  I  have  a  special,"  replied  Lord  Black- 
borough  carelessly. 

They  looked  at  each  other  after  he  had  left  the  room. 

"  I  hope  he  will  take  a  rest,"  said  Helen,  still  more 
anxiously.  ' '  I  've  never  seen  him  look  so — so  curious — as 
if  he  were  seeing  visions " 

"  He  is  a  little  fine-drawn,"  said  the  doctor  shortly; 
"  quiet  will  set  him  all  right,  I  expect." 

Meanwhile  Ned  in  his  motor  was  running  close  up  to 
time-limit  on  his  way  to  Ted's  office.  Even  if  he  missed 
the  express  he  was  not  going  away  without  telling  the  lat- 
ter that  he  had  spoken  to  Aura,  that  she  had  refused  him, 
but  that— well !  he  had  some  reason  for  hoping  she  might 
change  her  mind.    He  would  have  written  this  had  he 


236  A-   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

been  able  to  get  Ted's  address  in  Paris,  but  no  one  knew 
it  at  the  office,  or  at  any  rate  they  professed  not  to  know 
it.  Ted,  however,  had  returned  that  morning,  and  Ned 
had  telephoned  down  to  him  warning  him  to  expect  a 
visit. 

So  there  he  was  in  his  private  room,  looking  just  a 
little  disturbed,  just  a  little  combative ;  yet  the  Paris  visit 
had  been  successful  beyond  his  hopes.  So  successful  in- 
deed, that  there  was  a  really  magnificent  diamond  ring 
in  his  breast-pocket  awaiting  leisure  for  him  to  take  it 
down  to  Cwmfaernog. 

"  I'm  oif  for  six  weeks — to  be  exact,  for  thirty-nine 
days — to  Athens,"  said  Ned,  "  and  I  wanted  to  see  you 
for  a  moment  first,  because  I  have  something  to  tell  you 
— that,  I  think,  you  ought  to  know.  I  asked  Aura  Gra- 
ham to  marry  me — on  New  Year's  Day  it  was " 

Ted's  heart  gave  a  great  thump.  It  made  him  con- 
scious of  the  engagement  ring,  in  its  fine  blue  morocco 
case,  in  his  breast-pocket. 

"  Yes "  he  said  chillily— "  and— and "     He 

could  not  get  his  tongue  to  say  ' '  she  accepted  you, ' '  al- 
though, the  instant  he  heard  Ned's  confession,  he  made 
up  his  mind  that  it  must  not  force  his  hand  in  any  way. 
The  engagement  was  not  yet  made  public;  they  had  a 
perfect  right  to  keep  it  secret  if  they  chose. 

"  She  refused  me — but "    Here  Ned  found  some 

little  difficulty  in  going  on,  "  but  I  am  not  so  sure  if — 
if  she  would  refuse  me  again.  That  really  is  all  I  've  come 
to  say." 

He  looked  frankly  at  his  companion. 

Ted  stooped  down  and  stirred  the  fire. 

1 '  Thanks.  Of  course  that  is  your  opinion — I — I  don 't 
agree  with  it ;  but  anyhow  a  man  can  but  take  his  chance. 
You  take  yours  and  I  '11  take  mine. ' ' 

"  Done!  "  said  Ned  with  a  laugh,  and  they  parted. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Little  blue  wavelets  were  lapping  on  the  pure  white 
coral  dust  at  his  feet ;  above  his  head  little  white  cloud- 
lets were  sailing  upon  the  pure  blue  of  the  sky  as  Ned 
Blackborough  lay  on  the  flat  of  his  back  looking  out  over 
the  soft  southern  sea.  He  had  edged  himself  away  from 
the  turf  beyond  the  sand  for  fear  of  crushing  the  great 
drifts  of  tiny  iris  which  everywhere  grew  encircled  by 
their  bodyguard  of  grey-green  scimitar-shaped  leaves. 
Whether  they  were  actually  of  the  same  sort  as  the  one 
which  Aura  had  dubbed  "  the  most  beautiful  thing  in 
the  most  beautiful  place  in  the  world/'  Ned  was  not 
botanist  enough  to  know ;  but  his  heart  warmed  to  them 
because  of  their  likeness  to  it. 

But  then  his  heart  went  out  to  almost  everything  in 
this  wonder  island  of  the  Sporades  group,  which  he  had 
purchased  for  a  mere  song  from  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment. A  mere  song  indeed !  It  filled  him  with  awe  to 
think  of  becoming  the  possessor  of  so  much  pure  loveli- 
ness, when  he  had  spent  hundreds — nay!  thousands  of 
times  as  much — in  trying  to  make  one  house  fit  for  chil- 
dren to  die  in ! 

Even  as  it  stood,  it  was  an  earthly  paradise.  When  he 
had  finished  spending  a  little  more  money  and  a  good  deal 
more  leisure  on  it,  when  the  white  marble  ruins  on  it 
were  restored,  when  books  and  music  came  to  its  pleas- 
ant pavilions,  above  all  when  Love  came  to  take  up  her 
abode  there,  it  would  be  a  veritable  fragment  of  the  heav- 
enly Jerusalem  chipped  off  and  dropped  here  by  chance 
in  the  still,  deep  blue  sea. 

Yes !  it  was  extraordinarily  beautiful !  It  satisfied  the 
soul! 

237 


238  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Straight  away  from  the  water's  edge,  save  where  here 
and  there  a  coral-sanded  creek  broke  the  clear  cut  of  the 
cliff,  the  land  rose  steadily,  cleft  by  sharp  ravines,  to  a 
central  peak,  not  high,  yet  high  enough  to  hold,  on  this 
early  morning  in  February,  a  dusting  of  frosty  dew  upon 
its  summit,  which  shone  evanescently,  like  snow,  then  dis- 
appeared before  the  rising  sunbeams  as  they  fell. 

The  ilex  woods  were  already  green  and  bronze  in  their 
new,  soft,  yet  spike-set  shoots;  the  olives  grew  sturdily 
amongst  the  burnished  leafage  of  the  wild  lemon  and  the 
wild  orange,  and  down  the  ravines,  where  trickled  scant- 
ily among  the  stones  tiny  streams  of  water,  the  oleanders 
were  already  preparing  their  blaze  of  red  and  white. 

And  the  flowers!  Ye  gods!  what  flowers!  It  would 
take  Aura  a  lifetime  simply  to  find  out  their  names! 
Every  thicket  showed  them  aburst  with  coming  blossom ; 
and,  the  open  spaces,  even  thus  early,  were  carpeted  with 
f  ritillaries  and  narcissus. 

And  the  birds !  A  pair  of  tiny  sun-birds  flitted  past 
him  twittering,  playful,  a  flash  of  scarlet  wheeling  wings 
and  ruby  throats.  On  the  rock  yonder,  an  emerald  and 
sapphire  kingfisher  sat  silent,  looking  with  large,  piercing 
eyes  out  to  sea. 

So  indeed  might  Halcyon  have  sat  looking  for  her 
Ceyx !  And  as  he  watched  the  bird,  immobile,  mournful, 
the  full  beauty  of  the  far-way  Greek  legend  struck  Ned 
Blackborough's  mind  with  new  force. 

Ay!  So  must  all  those  who  love  the  Something  they 
know  not  what,  which  they  find,  or  seem  to  find,  in  some 
woman's  beauty,  some  man's  strength — so  must  they 
watch  and  wait,  flitting  ever  over  the  waves  of  life  seek- 
ing the  Beloved.  Not  even  the  halcyon  days  when  Zeus 
gives  the  wisdom  of  calm,  could  end  that  ceaseless  quest. 
Aura  had  been  right.  Behind  love  was  the  ' '  Something 
better  "  which  he  had  felt,  in  which  both  he  and  she  had 
been  lost,  as  they  had  sat  together,  hand  in  hand,  listen- 
ing to  the  robin  as  it  sang  on  the  holly-tree. 

The  sun-birds  flitted  past  again  less  playfully,  more 
lovingly,  and  Ned  Blackborough  started  up  remembering 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  239 

that  it  was  the  14th  of  February — St.  Valentine's  day! 
Naturally  the  birds  were  pairing.  Naturally  there  was 
spring  in  the  air.  Naturally  his  blood  seemed  to  race 
through  his  veins ;  he  also  could  have  made  love ! 

Fautes  de  mieux,  why  should  he  not  send  Aura  a  val- 
entine ?  He  had  not  written  to  her,  he  had  virtually  said 
he  would  not;  but  a  valentine — especially  a  valentine 
by  wire  as  this  must  be — was  a  very  impersonal  affair.  ^ 

He  strolled  over  to  the  rocky  point,  behind  which,  in 
a  natural  harbour,  lay  a  fair-sized  English  sailing-boat. 
Beyond,  at  anchor,  rode  a  steam  yacht ;  but  its  fires  were 
out — its  crew  had  gone  off  that  morning  in  a  double  la- 
teen-sailed felucca  to  Rhodes  for  some  festival — St.  Val- 
entine 's  day,  no  doubt. 

But  for  this  it  would  have  been  easy  to  steam  over  to 
the  telegraph  office. 

There  was  the  sailing-boat,  however,  and  the  weather 
was  perfect.  He  looked  out  seawards  critically.  There 
was  a  certain  hardness  of  outline  in  that  deep  blue  hori- 
zon; otherwise  the  calm  of  fourteen  days  might  well  be 
beginning. 

It  would  be  a  lovely  sail.  Twenty  miles  or  so  over 
these  ripples,  with  just  enough  warm  southerly  wind  be- 
hind one  to  blow  the  boat  straight  to  the  telegraph  office 
without  a  tack !  As  for  the  return  journey  the  felucca's 
crew  would  have  to  make  that,  and  bring  the  yacht  for 
him  next  morning.  He  liked  Rhodes ;  it  was  a  quaint  old 
town  full  of  memories,  pagan  and  Christian. 

Five  minutes  afterwards  he  was  afloat,  the  sheet  looped 
within  reach,  the  tiller  set  steady  towards  a  pale-blue 
cloud  which  lay  upon  the  north-west  horizon. 

It  was  the  most  perfect  of  mornings.  The  boat  lay 
over  a  trifle  to  the  wind,  which  was  stronger  beyond  the 
lee  of  the  island,  and  sent  a  little  half -apologetic  tinkling, 
bubbling  laugh  of  water  along  the  side  as  it  slid  through 
the  waving  lines  of  ripple. 

"  Let  me  pass!  good  people,"  it  seemed  to  say.  "  Let 
me  laugh !  I  have  a  purpose — you  have  none.  Ha — ha — 
ha!" 


240  A-   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

So,  unheeding  of  the  ripples,  might  the  unchanging 
Purpose  behind  all  things  break  through  the  little  waves 
of  the  world  and  laugh  at  their  disturbance. 

Ned  Blackborough  lit  a  cigarette — a  good  sound,  opi- 
um-soddened  Egyptian  cigarette  such  as  his  soul  loved — 
and  set  himself  deliberately  to  day-dreams.  It  was  be- 
coming more  and  more  a  temptation  for  him  to  do  this, 
for  he  was  only  just  beginning  to  realise  the  intense 
pleasure  he  derived  from  it !  A  sensual,  purely  assthetic 
pleasure  for  the  most  part,  though  every  now  and 
again.  .  .  .  Yes!  every  now  and  again  he  left  even  the 
super-sensual  part  of  him  behind,  and  lost  himself  ut- 
terly. In  what,  he  did  not  know.  He  only  knew  that  It 
was  there,  and  He  was  forgotten. 

To-day,  however,  he  was  in  no  mood  for  the  infinite; 
the  finite  was  quite  sufficient  for  him,  so  he  amused 
himself  by  looking  steadily  at  the  shining  dark  sur- 
face of  some  bilge  water  which  lay  by  the  tarred  keel 
of  the  boat,  and  trying  to  imagine  that  he  would  see 
visions  in  it,  as  the  little  Cairo  boys  see  them  in  a  drop 
of  ink. 

He  had  tested  this  often,  and  knew  that  they  did  see 
strange  things,  just  as  Helen  apparently  had  seen  the 
fire  on  Cam's  point  in  the  crystal.  Truly  there  were 
many  mysteries! 

It  was,  of  course,  not  hard  to  conjure  up  Aura's  face, 
or  see  her  seated  in  the  sheep  shelter  listening  to  the 
bird,  or  standing  in  the  moonlight  among  the  cedar  shad- 
ows on  the  lawn  holding  out  the  sovereign,  or  on  her 
knees  beside  the  little  purple  iris  while  the  sphinx  looked 
down  on  her. 

But  beyond  all  these  tricks  of  memory,  what  could  he 
see?  Nothing.  Yet  what  was  this?  A  wide  stretchy  of 
blue — blue  everywhere.  Bah !  it  was  only  the  reflection 
of  the  sky ;  it  was  the  floor  of  heaven ! 

His  eyes  narrowed  themselves  from  dreaminess  to 
thought.  It  was  strange  that  that  inner  eye,  which  could 
produce  things  from  the  past  with  such  absolute  accu- 
racy, should  be  so  helpless  in  regard  to  the  present  ex- 


A   SOVEREIGN  REMEDY  241 

cept  in  negation.  It  could  make  one  forget  that  alto- 
gether. 

As  for  the  future?  Truly  the  mind  of  man  dreamt 
idly  when  it  sought  to  discover  what  lay  beyond ;  possibly 
because  it  sought  to  recognise  itself  in  conditions  in 
which  Self  should  have  been  merged  in  something  beyond 
Self. 

So  as  he  sat  idly  looking  at  the  drop  of  dark  water,  he 
felt  for  a  moment — aided,  no  doubt,  by  the  opium  in  his 
cigarette! — as  if  he  were  sailing  on  over  a  sea  that  vi- 
brated ceaselessly  with  a  soft  quiver  which  brought  no 
sensation  of  light  to  his  eyes,  no  sense  of  feeling  to  his 
touch,  no  sense  of  sound  to  his  ears. 

And  the  old  Indian  definition  recurred  to  him — "  A 
bubble  upon  the  Ocean  of  Bliss." 

The  sharp  rug  of  a  running  rope  recalled  him  to  the 
present ;  the  loop  of  the  sheet  was  slipping  as  the  breeze 
freshened. 

It  was  freshening  indeed.  Behind  him  lay  quite  a 
squall,  crisping  the  ripples  to  little  indignant  waves,  and 
over  in  the  south-east  a  cloud,  pale-grey  but  threatening, 
already  showed  as  a  widening  arch  from  the  horizon. 
One  of  the  swift  spring  storms  was  coming  up  apace,  and 
he  must  run  for  it  for  all  he  was  worth.  There  was  no 
more  time  for  dreams ;  every  ounce  of  the  squall  that  goes 
before  the  storm  must  be  made  use  of  if  he  was  to  send 
his  valentine. 

But  he  would  send  it  safe  enough,  unless  the  wind 
shifted.  After  a  while,  during  which  the  boat,  hard  held, 
flew  through  the  waves,  and  the  blue  cloud  to  the  north- 
ward rose  higher  and  higher  on  the  horizon,  the  wind 
did  shift  just  at  a  point  or  two  towards  the  south,  and 
he  in  his  turn  had  to  shift  his  tiller  so  as  to  keep  that  ex- 
treme north-eastern  headland  before  him.  So  it  became 
a  harder  tussle  than  ever  between  him  and  the  wind  to 
keep  full  way  on  the  boat.  She  was  carrying  more  sail 
than  was  safe,  but  he  could  not  afford  to  lose  a  moment  of 
time;  although,  all  things  being  equal,  he  had  still  a 
fair  chance  of  making  the  land. 


242 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


Another  slight  shift !  and  now  before  him — a  gleam  of 
light  on  the  land  that  was  already  shadowed  by  the  com- 
ing storm — he  saw  a  creek  of  white  sand  slightly  to 
westward  of  him,  where  he  could  at  least  have  a  chance 
of  beaching  his  boat,  where,  for  the  matter  of  that,  if 
the  worst  came  to  worst,  he  would  at  least  have  a  better 
chance  of  not  being  dashed  to  pieces  if  he  tried  to  swim. 
Beyond,  the  coast  was  cliff-bound,  rock-bound. 

Would  she  take  so  much  ?  He  let  the  sheet  slip  through 
his  fingers  half  inch  by  half  inch,  gauging  the  wind's 
pressure  on  the  sail  cautiously.  Yes !  she  would  take  it. 
He  could  make  the  creek  if  all  went  well. 

But  he  had  reckoned  without  the  current  which  here, 
close  to  the  land,  began  to  gather  itself  for  a  head- 
long race  round  that  eastern  cliff;  so  inch  by  inch  the 
boat's  prow  slid  from  the  white  streak  of  safety  to  the 
rocks. 

Would  she  stand  another  inch  of  rope  1 

She  stood  it,  and  leapt  forward  like  a  greyhound,  giv- 
ing to  the  full  sweep  of  the  storm  which  at  that  moment, 
with  a  crash  of  thunder,  broke  over  them ;  then  righting 
herself  and  careering  before  it  like  some  mad  thing,  her 
way  redoubled  by  the  fierce  wind  which  sang  in  Ned's 
ears,  as,  clinging  to  one  taffrail  with  his  hand,  he  stood 
almost  on  the  other.  There  was  no  time  now  even  for 
thought;  the  feeling  of  fight  came  in  its  place,  since  to 
steady  the  tiller  for  the  creek  one  moment,  and  give  to 
the  huge  rollers  the  next,  was  enough  for  soul,  and  brain, 
and  body. 

Then  on  the  crest  of  a  wave  he  saw  the  creek  in  front 
of  him,  but  saw  also  that  a  giant  roller  just  behind  him 
must  swamp  the  boat  unless  he  steered  straight  towards 
the  rocks  on  the  north-east.  They  were  sharp,  jagged 
rocks,  like  teeth  just  showing  above  the  boil  of  the  waves. 
How  far  out  did  the  reef  run?  What  length  was  that 
ravening  jaw  ? 

Who  could  say?  The  next  instant,  with  his  boots 
kicked  off,  and  the  thwart,  on  which  he  had  kept  an 
eye  this  while  past,  held  under  his  arm-pits  by  his  out- 


A   SOVEREIGN  REMEDY  243 

stretched  arms,  as  a  buoy,  he  had  leapt  into  the  roller 
as  it  lifted  the  boat.  The  water  felt  warm  to  him,  spray 
and  wind-chilled  as  he  was ;  warm,  but  rough,  as  it  seized 
him,  ducked  him,  cuffed  him,  bruised  him ;  all  but  broke 
him,  ere  with  a  mighty  rush  it  flung  him  forwards.  Ye 
gods !  what  it  was  not  to  be  quite  sound — to  have  an  arm 
that  could  not  stand  a  strain !  Still  that  awful  something 
against  which  he  had  struck  in  the  downdraw  had  been 
warded  off  somehow  and  .  .  . 

Then  once  more  the  following  roller,  stronger  of  the 
giant  twins  which  hunt  the  wide  wastes  of  water  in 
couples,  overtook  him,  caught  him,  buffeted  him,  knocked 
him  senseless,  so,  with  a  wild  shrieking  scramble  of  peb- 
bles and  coral  sand,  swept  him  up  to  the  very  last  corner 
of  the  creek.  His  head,  as  he  lay  stunned,  was  within  an 
inch  of  a  jagged  needle-point  of  rock  which  would  have 
crashed  into  his  skull  as  if  it  had  been  an  egg-shell. 

It  was  full  five  minutes  ere  another  giant  wave  reached 
out  for  him  and  felt  him  about  the  feet.  But  by  this 
time  that  was  enough  to  rouse  him.  He  stirred,  sat  up, 
and  half-mechanically  withdrew  himself  stiffly  beyond 
any  further  touch.  He  was  bleeding  from  cuts  in  the 
hands  and  on  his  knees;  but  that  seemed  to  be  all  the 
damage  done. 

Except  for  the  boat,  of  course  .  .  .  What  of  the  boat? 
It  was  matchwood  already  amongst  those  devilish  rocks  to 
the  eastward. 

"  That  was  a  nearish  squeak/ '  he  murmured  softly 
as  he  rose,  and  limping  a  little,  sought  shelter  among  the 
clefts  of  the  cliff  from  the  blinding  torrents  of  rain. 

An  hour  or  so  afterwards,  however,  having  with  easy 
grace  and  some  small  knowledge  of  Turkish  and  modern 
Greek  hired  a  gaily  caparisoned  mule  from  a  neighbour- 
ing farmer,  he  rode  up  the  Knights'  Street  quite  cheer- 
fully, dried  and  warmed  by  the  sun,  which,  after  the 
brief  storm,  had  shone  out  again  radiantly,  carelessly. 

He  had  settled  what  the  valentine  was  to  be  from  the 
very  moment  that  the  idea  of  it  had  entered  his  head,  but 
it  took  him  fully  half  an  hour  to  see  it  safely  through  the 


244  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

hands  of  the  Turkish  officials,  and  then  they  charged  him 
for  a  message  in  cipher. 

Yet  it  was  only  a  very  simple  quotation : — 

i  Haply  I  think  on  thee,  and  then  my  state; 
Like  to  the  lark  at  break  of  day  uprising 
From  sullen  earth,  sings  hymns  at  heaven's  gate.' 

He  did  not  even  put  his  name  to  it,  for  it  seemed  im- 
possible to  him  that  she  should  not  know  who  sent  it. 

By  this  time  it  was  close  on  four  o'clock,  and  he  com- 
puted the  difference  in  longitude  by  his  watch. 

"  She  ought  to  get  it  at  latest  by  four/'  he  said  to 
himself  as  he  strolled  off  to  the  old  church  to  live  awhile 
amongst  the  ghosts  of  the  Crusaders  and  the  Knights 
Hospitalliers  of  St.  John. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  a  quarter  to  four  when  the 
brick-dust  coloured  envelope  was  put  into  Aura's  hands, 
but  she  was  still  looking  at  it  with  a  certain  scare  in  her 
eyes  and  a  certain  flutter  at  her  heart  when  Ted  came 
down  from  her  grandfather's  room  at  four  o'clock.  Of 
course  she  knew  who  had  sent  it.  No  one  but  Ned  would 
have  thought  of  anything  at  once  so  consoling  and  so  dis- 
turbing. To  rise  from  earth  and  "  sing  hymns  at  heav- 
en's gate  "  was  quite  in  order;  but  how  about  the 
"  Haply  I  think  on  thee  "! 

"  What's  that?  "  asked  Ted  kindly,  as  he  sat  down 
beside  her  on  the  sofa,  which  had  been  imported  into  the 
bare,  empty  room  for  the  invalid's  use.  "  Anything  I 
can  do?  " 

That  again  was  so  like  him;  always  thinking  of  ma- 
terial help  in  everything. 

"  Nothing,"  she  replied,  hurriedly  crumpling  up  the 
per,  and  thrusting  it  under  the  sofa  cushion.  "  Noth- 
ing, at  least  of  any  consequence. ' '  She  was  wearing  the 
diamonds  now,  and  they  flashed  on  her  finger,  bringing 
the  sunburn  brown  of  her  hand  into  greater  promi- 
nence. "  You  look  worried,  Ted,"  she  went  on.  "  You 
don 't  think  grandfather  is  worse,  do  you  ?  He  was  very 
disturbed,  I  know,  but " 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  245 

Ted  shook  his  head.  "  Not  worse,  certainly.  I  left 
him  asleep.  Besides,  the  doctor  says  there  is  no  imme- 
diate danger  of  any  sort.  But  I  am  worried.  The  fact 
is,  my  darling  " — his  arm  was  round  her,  but  not  too 
aggressively,  for,  in  truth,  though  he  loved  her  dearly, 
his  world  held  many  other  interests  besides  love — "  this 
sort  of  thing  cannot  go  on.  This  is  the  third  time  I  have 
been  sent  for  since  the  New  Year.  I  don't  grudge  it, 
dearest,  one  bit.  There  is  always  the  joy  of  seeing  you ; 
but  if  Hirsch  hadn  't  been  kindness  itself  I  couldn  't  have 
managed  it.  And  it  doesn't  really  do  the  dear  old  man 
any  good.  Here  he  is  to-day  fretting  himself  ill  about 
my  having  to  go  away,  about  our  being  married.  So  I 
was  wondering,  dearest " 

1 '  Yes,  Ted, ' '  she  put  in  calmly. 

Ted  took  his  arm  away,  and  sat  resting  his  head  in 
his  hands  and  looking  vexedly  into  the  fire.  "  It  is  a 
good  deal  to  ask  of  us — especially  to  ask  of  you,"  he 
went  on ;  ' '  but  you  see  I  must  go  off  this  evening,  so  it 
wouldn't  make  any  real  difference,  since  we  are  bound 
indissolubly  to  each  other  as  it  is — aren  'twe?  " 

He  took  her  left  hand  and  kissed  the  diamond  ring  as 
he  spoke. 

"  Of  course  we  are,"  she  assented.     "  Go  on,  Ted." 

"  So — if  you  will  consent — I  could  fetch  the  rector — 
he  is  a  surrogate,  I  find;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  got 
the  license  at  Blackborough — and  we  could  be  married 
before  I  go.  Don't  look  so  startled,  my  dearest!  It 
shan  't  be  if  you  don 't  wish  it.  And  I  hate  asking  for  it, 
only  I  believe  it  would  really  quiet  the  dear  old  man, 
and  give  him  a  better  chance — and  me  too,  of  course, 
for  this  sort  of  thing  is  a  little — just  a  little — well !  lim- 
iting. And,  as  I  say,  it  would  make  no  difference — ex- 
cept perhaps  that  I  should  find  it  harder  than  ever  to 
leave  my  wife. ' ' 

His  voice  sank  to  almost  playful  tenderness,  his  arm 
stole  round  her  waist  again,  and  she  rose  hurriedly. 

' '  But — but  is  this  possible  ?  ' '  she  asked  incredulously. 
"  I  thought  there  was  so  much  formality " 


246  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

He  smiled  tolerantly.  ' '  Not  at  all !  a  special  license 
is  all  that's  required,  and  I  have  that;  so  if  you — you 
dear,  solemn  thing ! — will  really  consent  to  do  without  a 
wedding " 

She  looked  at  him,  startled.  ' '  But  surely  we  are  going 
to  be  married  ?  ' ' 

He  laughed  loudly.  ' '  Of  course  we  are.  I  meant  the 
bridesmaids  and  the  cake  and  the  orange-blossoms  and  all 
that.  I  don't  want  them,  darling,  if  you  don't.  It's 
enough  for  me  to  have  you. ' ' 

She  set  the  question  and  his  kiss  aside  as  of  no  value 
whatever.  ' '  Then  I  think  you  had  better  get  the  rector 
if  you  can,  Ted,"  she  said  thoughtfully.  "  I  expect  it 
will  make  a  great  difference  to  him — to  grandfather,  I 
mean — and  to  you  also.  And  you've  been  so  awfully 
good !  Will  you  tell  grandfather  ?  ' '  she  added  with  a  lit- 
tle blush  as  she  released  herself  from  her  lover's  thanks. 

"  Well,  you  see,"  he  confessed,  "  I've  half -promised 
him  already — that  is  why  he  went  to  sleep.  You  are 
always  so  reasonable,  Aura,  I  felt  I  might  count  on 
you " 

And  then  the  sight  of  her  standing  there  so  sweet,  so 
kind,  so  absolutely  unconscious,  seemed  to  overwhelm 
him,  and  he  cried  passionately,  ' '  Oh,  my  dear,  my  dear ! 
I  hope  I  shall  make  you  happy — but  you  are  a  thousand 
times  too  good  for  me." 

He  told  himself  so  over  and  over  again  as  he  hurried 
on  his  bicycle  to  the  rectory,  and  he  swore  to  himself  al- 
most incoherently  that  although  the  rush  of  mere  money- 
making  had  absorbed  much  of  his  waking  life,  it  should 
never  invade  the  corner  that  was  sacred  to  his  love.  And 
as  he  said  this  he  turned  his  head  suddenly  towards  the 
winter  woods,  for  in  his  ears  that  mellow  blackbird  call  to 
the  wilds  seemed  to  sound,  as  it  had  sounded  that  even- 
ing when,  all  unwitting,  he  had  sold  his  soul  to  Mr. 
Hirsch. 

When  he  had  gone  on  his  mission  Aura  drew  out  Ned 's 
valentine  again,  smoothed  it  over,  and  looked  at  it  once 
more.     For  the  first  time  in  her  life  she  felt  the  need 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  247 

of  some  one — some  woman  to  whom  she  could  talk.  Fin- 
ally she  folded  up  the  telegram,  put  it  on  the  mantelpiece, 
and  went  into  the  kitchen.  There  was  always  Martha, 
and  Martha's  sound  common-sense  was  a  byword. 

1 '  Martha, ' '  she  said,  after  standing  for  a  few  moments 
watching  the  deft  hands  dab  butter  over  paste,  and  roll 
it  in  with  swift  decision — it  was  almost  like  watching  the 
mill  which  grinds  small !  ' '  I  want  to  ask  you  something ; 
but  you  must  promise  not  to  mention  it  even  to  Adam. 

"  Even  to  Bate!  "  echoed  Martha  with  a  sniff.  "  If 
I'd  my  choice,  Miss  IT Aura,  I'd  as  lief  mention  it  to  the 
town-crier.  Not  that  Bate  doesn't  mean  well.  It  ain't 
his  fault  being  born  so ;  but  there,  one  must  just  take  holt 
of  men  as  they're  made,  and  be  thankful  they  is  no 
worse. ' ' 

Why  this  should  have  heartened  Aura  up  it  is  hard  to 
say,  but  it  did.  She  actually  smiled.  "  What  I  wanted 
to  ask  was  this,  Martha.  In  your  experience — do  you 
think  it  hurts  a  man  very  much  to  be  in  love — I  mean,  of 
course,  to  be  in  love  with  some  one  who  doesn't  want — 
I  mean  who  won 't  marry  him  ?  ' ' 

Martha  poised  the  rolling-pin  on  one  hip,  her  hand  on 
the  other. 

' '  Hurt  'em !  ' '  she  echoed.  ' '  Lord  sakes,  no !  It 's  the 
makin'  o'  them.  Bate  wouldn't  be  'alf  so  spry  at  his 
years  if  he  'adn't  bin  wantin'  to  marry  me  any  time  this 
fourteen  year  back.  That's  why  I  won't  'ave  him  even 
now,  Miss  H  'Aura.  *  Bate, '  says  I,  *  if  I  was  to  take  you 
now,  you  'd  get  fat  an '  lazy.  You  wouldn  't  rise  no  more. 
You'd  be  like  whipped  eggs  as  is  let  stand,  all  gone  to 
froth  an '  water. '  No !  Miss  H  'Aura,  men  is  like  heggs, 
they  want  beatin '  'ard  all  the  time,  else  they  '11  never  rise 
to  better  things.' ' 

The  rolling-pin  came  down  on  the  pastry  with  more 
decision  than  ever,  and  Aura  laughed  out  loud.  Some- 
thing in  the  very  phrasing  of  the  last  words  comforted 
her. 

Yet  she  was  not  quite  content  as  she  changed  her  day- 
dress  for  the  white  cambric  one  she  wore  in  the  evening ; 


248  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

after  all,  it  was  but  putting  it  on  an  hour  or  so  before 
her  usual  time,  and  the  Mechlin  lace  about  her  throat  was 
a  concession  which  would  please  her  grandfather. 

"Aura! — my  dearest,  you  look  quite  bridal,"  ex- 
claimed Ted,  as  he  came  in  to  find  her  sitting  by  the  fire- 
light. "  It  seems  too  good  to  be  true — but  the  rector  will 
be  here  in  half  an  hour. ' '  He  knelt  down  beside  her,  and 
laid  his  head  in  her  lap.  "  My  dear,  my  dear!  "  he  said 
almost  with  a  sob.  "  I  don't  seem  able  to  say  anything 
but  that,  somehow,"  he  added  almost  pathetically.  Far 
away,  dimly,  he  saw  a  vision  of  something  better,  unat- 
tainable, incompatible  with  his  sensuous  life.  It  was 
beautiful  but — what  would  you  ?  Man  is  but  man ;  and 
he  must  have  money  wherewith  to  live. 

"  Then  there  is  something  which  I  must  tell  you — be- 
fore," she  said;  "it  is  something  which  I  think  you 
ought  to  know.  Ned  asked  me  to  marry  him  on  New 
Year's  Day — and  I  refused." 

Ted's  heart  gave  a  great  throb  as  it  had  done  when 
Ned  Blackborough  had  used  much  the  same  words  nearly 
a  month  before. 

"  I — I  am  sorry  for  Ned,"  he  said  softly,  "  but  I  don't 
see " 

For  answer  she  held  out  the  telegram.  "  He  sent  me 
this  to-day, "  she  said,  "  and  I  wonder — if  he  is  waiting. " 

"  Waiting!  "  echoed  Ted  hotly.  "  Waiting  for  what? 
You  say  you  refused  him?  " 

'  Yes !  I  told  him  I  would  not  marry  him — because  I 
was  afraid  of  loving  him  too  much;  that  was  the  truth." 

For  one  instant  the  whole  room  seemed  to  spin  round 
with  Ted ;  he  had  to  steady  himself  by  holding  to  the  back 
of  a  chair. 

! '  I  don 't  understand  what  you  mean, ' '  he  said  thickly. 

"  I  don't  think  he  did  either,"  she  replied  with  a  lin- 
gering regret  in  her  voice,  "  for  he  said  he  would  ask 
me  again  in  two  months,  as  if  that  would  alter  anything. " 

Ted  caught  swiftly  at  the  ray  of  light.  "  Then  if  he 
asked  you  again — you — you  would  refuse  him  ?  ' ' 

The  firelight  had  died  down  so  that  he  could  not  see  the 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  249 

flush  which  surged  into  her  face,  but  he  could  hear  her 
voice  as  she  replied,  "  Yes!  I  should  refuse  him — more 
than  ever.,, 

"  Then,"  he  said  slowly  after  a  pause,  "  I  don't  see 
why  you  need  bother ' 

"  Oh!  it  was  not  that,"  she  put  in  quickly.  "  I  was 
only  wondering — you  see  I  know  so  little,  and  I  have  no 
mother — if  he  would  expect  me  to  wait. ' ' 

The  firelight  flared  up  again,  and  he  saw  her  with  the 
lace  about  her  throat.  "  Let  him  wait!  "  he  exclaimed 
passionately ;  "he  had  his  fair  chance  and  I  have  mine. 
I  am  sorry,  but  one  of  us  had  to  win.  You  can't  help 
that,  you  poor  little  dear — that  is  fate. ' ' 

He  told  himself  it  was  indeed  fate :  he  swore  to  him- 
self that  he  would  be  the  best  husband  ever  woman  had. 

But  for  all  that  the  ceremony  damped  even  his  joy. 
To  begin  with,  Martha  wept  copiously  in  a  corner,  as  she 
had  wept  ever  since  Ted  had  gone  in  to  the  kitchen  and 
taken  her  away  unceremoniously  from  her  pastry-mak- 
ing as  a  witness.  At  first  she  had  sunk  into  a  chair,  and 
steadfastly  refused  to  budge  (on  the  ground  that  she 
couldn't  "  'ave  sech  things  going  on  in  the  'ouse,"  but 
after  a  time  the  importance  of  being  in  possession  of  a 
dead  secret,  and  her  perception  that  if  his  lordship  was 
not  going  to  come  forward — and  he  seemed,  indeed,  in- 
clined to  play  the  back  step — this  was  decidedly  the  next 
best  thing  for  her  darling,  induced  her  to  yield. 

"  And  if  you  loves  'im  and  'e  loves  you,  there  ain't 
no  fear,  same  as  there  ain't  no  fear  but  what  good  barm 
and  good  flour '11  make  a  good  batch  o'  bread — no  fear 
at  all  my  deary  dear,"  she  had  sobbed  consolingly  to 
Aura,  who  stood  quite  composed,  but  very  white.  Ted, 
strong  and  kindly,  clasped  her  hand,  and  what  soul, 
was  left  over  and  above  his  bargain  was  in  his  eyes. 

The  rector,  in  biretta  and  cope,  read  the  service  una- 
bridged, while  Sylvanus  Smith,  propped  comfortably  in 
his  arm-chair,  averted  his  face  from  the  sacerdotal  sym- 
bols, even  while  he  added  an  unctious  "  Amen  "  of  his 
own  to  "  let  no  man  put  asunder." 


250  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

He  even  essayed  a  burst  of  hilarity  as  he  kissed  Mrs. 
Cruttenden,  but  Ted  scarcely  availed  himself  of  his  priv- 
ileges. He  only  stood  beside  Aura,  holding  her  hand, 
divided  in  his  heart  of  hearts  whether  he  should  go  or 
whether  he  should  stay. 

But  in  the  end  prudence  triumphed  and  a  sense  of 
duty;  for  the  last  month  of  constant  interruptions  had 
not  been  favourable  to  business,  and  if  Aura — if  his  wife 
— were  ever  to  appear  in  that  pink  satin  and  diamonds,  it 
behooved  him  to  bestir  himself. 

So  Adam  Bate,  coming  in  after  milking  the  cows  at 
eight  o'clock,  found  the  house  silent,  curiously  silent, 
with  Martha  seated  on  a  chair,  her  feet  on  the  fender, 
her  eyes  on  the  fire. 

He  cast  a  glance  at  the  table.  It  was  bare,  so  after  a 
while  he  coughed. 

"  Beant  there  no  supper,  Martha,  woman?  "  he  asked 
apologetically. 

Martha  rose  in  an  instant,  aflame. 

1 '  There 's  bin  that,  Adam  Bate,  a-goin '  on  in  this  'ouse 
this  day,  as  no  one  didn't  want  to  'ave  no  supper — not 
if  they  was  Christian — but  bein'  a  man — there's  bread 
and  cheese  in  the  cupboard. ' ' 


CHAPTER   XXI 

March  had  come  in  like  a  lion.  Even  in  the  village  of 
Dinas,  sheltered  as  it  was,  the  east  wind  swept  down  the 
funnel  of  the  valley  and  through  the  very  houses,  as  only 
an  east  wind  in  Wales  can  sweep,  bitter,  absolutely  un- 
sparing of  man  or  beast. 

Alicia  Edwards  gathered  her  cross-over  shawl  closer 
to  her  as  she  stood  in  her  father's  shop  and  listened  for 
the  click  of  the  telegraph  instrument.  It  was  almost  the 
only  amusement  she  had  now,  and  any  moment  might 
bring  the  wire  for  which  Adam  Bate  and  the  housekeeper 
at  Cwmfaernog  had  been  calling  in  vain  these  two  days 
past. 

It  was  becoming  serious.  They  would  have  to  bury 
the  poor,  dead  gentleman  after  all,  if  some  one  did  not 
come  to  help  them  to  arrange — the  other  thing.  For 
in  this  far  away  Welsh  village,  where  every  boy  and  girl 
had  been  educated  up  to  the  standard  set  by  the  most  ad- 
vanced progressivists  of  the  day,  the  very  idea  of  crema- 
tion was  absolute  damnation.  It  could  be  nothing  else, 
since  how  could  the  Creator  resurrect  a  body  that  did  not 
exist  ?  So  half  the  village  thought  it  only  right  that  such 
an  atheist  as  Mr.  Sylvanus  Smith  had  been  in  life  should 
meet  the  fire  without  delay,  and  the  other  half,  more 
mercifully  inclined,  explained  the  difficulty  in  getting 
hold  of  Mr.  Cruttenden,  the  dead  man's  executor,  as 
symptomatic  of  pity  on  the  part  of  Providence. 

Alicia  Edwards,  thinking  over  this,  sighed.  It  was 
only  one  more  case  in  which  the  teaching  of  school  ran 
counter  to  the  knowledge  that  was  necessary  in  daily  life. 
For  what  would  her  father,  the  elder,  what  would  she 
herself  say,  if  she  was  to  allow  even  elementary  science 

251 


252 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


to  interfere  with  her  belief  ?  The  world  was  a  very  con- 
fusing place.  There  was  but  one  certain  thing  in  it  for 
a  woman,  and  that  was  love ;  but  every  one  could  not  get 
love.  She  thought  of  her  own  struggle  for  it  and  her 
failure.  Myf anwy  had  beaten  her.  She  had  reft  Mervyn 
away  even  from  his  great  vocation,  and  rumour  had  it 
that,  after  a  little  longer  service  in  Williams  and  Ed- 
wards 's  shop,  those  two  would  be  married  and  set  up  in  a 
small  business  of  their  own.  In  face  of  this,  what  did  all 
the  rest  matter  ?  Despite  all  the  talk  in  the  village  con- 
cerning Mervyn 's  sudden  departure  and  Morris  Pugh's 
equally  sudden  resignation  of  the  pastorship  of  Dinas, 
she  had  held  her  tongue  with  fair  discretion,  only  allow- 
ing a  few  mysterious  surmises  to  leak  out.  To  begin 
with,  Myf  anwy 's  last  words  had  alarmed  her,  and  then 
the  offenders  had  passed  altogether  from  her  control. 
What  would  it  matter  to  Mervyn,  now  employee  in  Will- 
iams and  Edwards,  if  it  was  f  ound  out  that  he  had  ruined 
half  the  girls  in  Dinas? 

Besides,  something  new  and  stern  in  her  father's  at- 
titude towards  her  in  regard  to  the  revival  made  her  sus- 
pect that  he  was  not  without  his  suspicions.  The  less 
said  about  morals  the  better,  especially  since  the  effect  of 
those  midnight  meetings  was  already  making  itself  felt 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood.  For  Isaac  Edwards 
was  relentless  on  this  point.  He  had  downright  refused 
to  let  her  go  on  with  her  sweet  singing  now  that  all 
her  companions  had  died  or  disappeared ;  so  having,  of 
course,  lost  her  post  as  pupil  teacher,  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  stop  at  home  and  prepare,  so  her  father  said, 
for  a  normal  college.  The  girl  herself  stiffened  a  sullen 
lip  and  looked  down  the  lane  which  led  to  the  minister's 
house  now  occupied  by  the  Reverend  Hwfa  Williams; 
for  he  admired  her.  Of  that  there  could  be  no  question. 
The  possibility  of  marrying  him,  indeed,  had  become 
quite  a  factor  in  her  life,  and  she  decided  most  points 
with  a  view  to  this  possibility.  Small  wonder  then  if 
Alicia  Edwards's  amicability  and  her  general  desirability 
as  a  minister's  wife  had  begun  to  strike  Hwfa  Williams 


A   SOYEKEION   REMEDY  253 

himself,  while  even  Isaac  Edwards  was  beginning  to 
waver  in  his  insistance  on  Logarithms  and  the  Science  of 
Tuition. 

"  Put  on  your  hat,  Alicia,''  he  said  from  his  ledger, 
"  and  run  down  the  road.  It  will  warm  you  up  before 
you  have  to  go  to  the  Bible  class. ' ' 

And  Alicia  went,  nothing  loth.  It  was  better  battling 
with  the  wind  than  watching  for  telegrams  which  never 
came,  especially  when  there  was  the  chance  of  coming 
back  with  the  wind  and  with  a  man  whose  pale,  heavy, 
dark-browed  face  was  beginning  to  become  to  you,  by 
diligent  care  and  concentration,  the  handsomest  in  the 
world. 

So  she  fought  her  ground  steadily  against  the  swirling 
clouds  of  dust. 

Had  she  only  gone  up  the  hill  over  the  short,  springy 
grass  and  the  broken  brown  bracken  she  would  have  en- 
joyed the  wind,  as  Ned  Blackborough  was  enjoying  it  on 
his  way  to  Cwmfaernog.  For  it  was  the  1st  of  March, 
the  day  on  which  he  had  promised  Aura  he  would  re- 
turn and  ask  her  once  more  to  marry  him.  He  had 
come  back  from  the  East  but  the  day  before,  and  being, 
so  to  speak,  made  up  of  impulses,  moods,  fancies,  in  the 
indulgence  of  which  he  had  of  late  sought  his  chief 
pleasures,  he  had  determined  to  find  his  way  to  her,  as 
he  had  found  it  that  very  first  night,  over  the  summit 
of  Llwydd  y  Bryn,  the  "  Eye  of  the  World."  ( 

Such  fancies  hurt  no  one,  but  he  was  beginning  to 
realise  that  in  them  lay  all  the  salt  of  life.  What  was  it 
to  the  world,  absorbed  conventionally  in  the  sordid  sleep 
which  follows  perforce  on  sordid  money  grubbing,  if  he 
found  the  highest  rhythm  of  life  in  the  quiver  of  the 
moonlit  woods?  Nothing.  Let  those  see  who  had  the 
eyes  to  see. 

So  when,  a  bit  wearied  with  his  climb,  he  sat  down 
where  he  had  carelessly  put  out  his  hand  to  catch  the 
flying  footsteps  of  day,  it  struck  him  now,  thoughtfully, 
that,  in  truth,  it  was  all  a  man's  life,  all  he  could  do 
towards  gaining  happiness.    He  must  just  catch  at  the 


254  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

flying  footsteps  of  something  unseen.  Ever  since  the  day 
when  death  had  so  nearly  overtaken  him  while  he  was 
studying  life  in  a  black  drop  of  water,  he  had  been  haunt- 
ed at  times  by  that  feeling  of  sightlessness,  touchlessness, 
soundlessness  which  had  come  to  him  then. 

It  came  to  him  now  on  the  top  of  Llwydd  y  Bryn, 
though  before  his  bodily  eyes  lay  half  the  principality 
of  Wales,  spread  out  as  if  it  were  a  map.  Surpassingly 
beautiful  too.  In  its  way  as  beautiful  as  that  island  in 
the  iEgean,  now  waiting  ready  for  its  mistress,  for  he 
was  quite  prepared  to  follow  Aura  into  the  wilderness 
if  needs  be.  He  had  thought  much  concerning  her  and 
concerning  himself  during  the  last  six  weeks,  and  he  had 
begun  to  recognise  that  in  some  ways  she  was  right  in 
shrinking  from  what  she  called  love,  as  a  desecration  of 
herself  and  of  him.  The  feeling,  however,  was  due  to 
the  absolutely  unnatural  association  in  marriage  of  the 
mind  with  the  body.  An  association  which  was  simply  an 
attempt  to  find  a  mental  fig-leaf  for  what  either  required 
none,  or  was  beyond  decent  cover.  One  thing,  however, 
seemed  to  him  certain.  Aura  must  both  love  him  and 
also  desire  to  marry  him.  Yes,  she  loved  him,  or  thought 
she  did,  which  to  her  was  the  same  thing. 

He  sprang  to  his  feet,  that  thought  being  enough  to 
start  him  on  any  path,  and,  ere  leaving  the  summit, 
cast  one  look  round  it,  remembering  gladly  that  it  might 
be  the  last  time  he  should  see  it. 

All  was  as  his  recollection  held  it.  Just  a  brown, 
peaty,  stone-strewn  rise,  and  beyond,  on  all  sides,  an 
immensity  of  sea  and  sky  and  land.  Only  the  placard 
on  the  shieling  had  been  damaged  by  the  winter 
storms.  The  ultimate  6d.  was  gone  and  "ginger  beer  " 
stood  alone,  vaunting  itself  free  like  the  nectar  of  the 
gods. 

Ginger  beer!  That  was  about  wThat  it  came  to  for 
the  million. 

With  an  amused  shrug  of  the  shoulders  he  began  the 
descent,  every  step  of  which  was  beautiful,  every  sight 
in  which  brought  to   him   the   feeling   as   if   he   trod 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  255 

on  air,  as  if  nothing  in  heaven  or  earth  could  trammel 
him  again. 

As  he  crossed  the  stream  above  the  farm  buildings, 
where  on  that  night  nine  months  ago  they  had  stood  and 
shouted,  the  whole  steading  struck  him  as  looking  for- 
lorn and  deserted,  but,  being  sure  of  finding  Martha  in 
the  kitchen,  he  went  boldly  through  the  cottage  and 
passed  through  the  door  that  was  like  a  coal  cellar's  to 
the  garden  room.  But  this  time  there  was  no  flash  of 
blinding  sunlight  to  dazzle  him.  It  was  almost  dark,  for 
the  green  sun-blinds  on  either  side  were  drawn  down; 
that,  however,  was  surely  a  figure  by  the  window. 

"At  last!  "  came  Aura's  voice,  full  of  infinite  relief. 
"  I  am  so  glad." 

Swept  away  by  the  whole-heartedness  of  his  welcome 
he  went  forward  swiftly  and  had  her  in  his  arms,  but 
his  first  touch  was  enough ;  she  shrank  back  with  a  half- 
articulate  cry  of  surprise  and  thrust  him  from  her  by 
force. 

1 '  Aura !  "  he  said  almost  incredulously,  ' '  and  you 
sounded — so — so  glad." 

1 '  I  thought — I  thought  you  were  Ted, ' '  she  explained 
with  a  little  sob.  "  I  've  been  expecting  him  so  long,  you 
see." 

"  Ted!  "  he  echoed,  "  you  have  been  expecting  him? 
I  don't  understand." 

"  No,"  she  replied  hurriedly  in  a  low  voice.  "  Of 
course,  I  forgot  you  couldn't."    There  was  a  faint  pause, 

then  she  collected  herself.  "  We — we  were  married " 

This  time  the  pause  remained  unbroken  until  coolly,  al- 
most sarcastically,  the  question  came. 

' '  You  were  married !    May  I  ask — when  1  ' ' 

The  darkness  of  those  drawn  down  blinds  was  in  a  way 
a  godsend  to  them  both.  It  hid  all  expression,  and  it 
seemed  to  Ned  Blackborough  in  his  incredulous  dismay 
as  if  he  were  speaking  to  a  disembodied  spirit;  was  he 
also,  by  some  chance,  a  disembodied  spirit? 

"  I — I  don't  remember,"  came  her  voice,  all  strained 
and  curiously  weary.    ' '  Oh,  yes ;  of  course  I  do.    It  was 


256  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

on  the  14th  of  February."  She  was  just  beginning  to 
remember  dates,  and  to  recollect  that  this  must  be  the 
1st  of  March.  Everything  seemed  to  have  been  blotted 
out  by  her  grandfather's  sudden  death  two  days  be- 
fore, and  the  impossibility  of  getting  any  answer  to 
her  telegram  from  Ted,  Ted  on  whom  she  had  learnt 
to  rely. 

Ned  laughed  suddenly.  "  St.  Valentine's  Day,"  he 
echoed.  "  So  I  sent  you  my  valentine  as  a  wedding 
present.  If  I  had  only  known,  I  mightn't  have  taken  so 
much — trouble — to  send  it  off.  I  expect  I  was  pretty 
near  death  when  you  were  getting  married,  young  lady, 
and  I  compliment  you  on  the  quickness " 

1 '  But  we  were  engaged,  quite  a  long  time  before, ' '  she 
said  in  idle  protest,  for  something  in  her  seemed  ham- 
mering at  her  head,  beating  into  it  the  knowledge  that 
she  had  been  mean. 

Once  more  he  laughed.    "  May  I  ask  how  long?  " 

"  On — on  New  Year's  Day."  He  could  scarcely  hear 
what  she  said. 

"  On  New  Year's  Day,"  he  echoed  incredulously, 
' l  impossible !  ' '  Then  the  conviction  that,  if  this  were 
so,  Ted  Cruttenden  had — well!  almost  lied  to  him 
came  to  rouse  his  anger  to  the  uttermost,  and  he  strode 
towards  her  shadow.  "  But  this  is  foolishness,"  he 
exclaimed,  "  You  know  you  love  me — you  know  you 
do " 

"  Hush!  "  she  cried,  interrupting  his  swift  rise  in 
tone,  ' '  Remember,  please,  that  my  grandfather  lies  dead 
upstairs. ' ' 

' '  Dead !  "  he  said  stupidly  after  a  pause, ' '  Dead !  I — 
I  didn  't  know.  I — I  am  very  sorry. ' '  The  conventional 
words  of  sympathy  came  slowly  as  he  stood,  feeling 
baulked  indescribably,  done  out,  as  it  were,  of  his  just 
claim  to  anger. 

"Are  there  any  more  terrors  to  tell?  "  he  asked  at 
last  recklessly.  "  Do  you  happen  to  be  dead  yourself, 
or  has  the  '  coo  '  been  killed?  I  beg  your  pardon — you 
won't  understand  the  allusion "  he  added  hastily, 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  257 

1 1  but  I  must  be  excused ;  there  are  limits !  So,  I  see ; 
you  took  me  for  Ted — for  your  husband,  save  the  mark ! 
Why  isn't  he  here? — where  he  ought  to  be?  " 

The  sudden  blame,  following  her  own  thought  so  close- 
ly, took  Aura  all  unprepared.  The  dull  grievance  which 
had  been  hers  all  those  long  hours  of  vain  waiting  be- 
came suddenly  acute.  She  dissolved  into  young  self-pity- 
ing tears. 

"  I  don't  know,''  she  murmured,  strangling  her  sobs, 
' '  and  I  don 't  in  the  least  know  what  to  do. ' ' 

For  an  instant  Ned  Blackborough  felt  inclined  to  ar- 
raign high  heaven  for  thus  robbing  him  of  righteous 
wrath. 

But  he  was  a  gentleman,  his  heart  was  soft,  so  there 
was  nothing  for  it  save  to  accept  the  situation  with  the 
best  grace  he  could.  And  the  grace  came,  to  his  surprise, 
with  such  exceeding  ease,  despite  his  ill-usage,  that  he 
had  to  drive  himself  not  towards  patience,  but  to  impa- 
tience, as  he  listened  to  Aura's  tale  of  ignorance  and 
loneliness. 

A  man  with  money  behind  him,  or  rather  money  with 
a  man  behind  it,  can  do  all  things  save  avoid  vulgarity, 
ensure  happiness,  or  escape  death. 

By  the  evening,  therefore,  Ned  Blackborough  was  able 
to  give  Aura  a  most  sympathetic  and  affectionate  tele- 
gram from  her  husband. 

"  We  ran  him  to  earth  in  Vienna,  where  he  had  gone 
on  business,"  said  Ned,  refraining,  why  he  scarcely 
knew,  from  saying  also  that  Ted  had  been  found  in  a 
Biergarten,  and  that  he  had  left  strict  orders  that  tele- 
grams were  not  to  be  forwarded.  "  I  got  him  through 
Hirsch,  but  he  again  was  unfortunately  in  Paris;  they 
have  some  big  scoop  on  hand.  But  it  is  all  right  now, 
and  he  should  be  home  to-morrow.  As  for  the  rest,  you 
need  not  bother.  It  is  all  settled,  and  I  will  tell  Martha 
what  to  expect.    So  I  will  say  good-bye. ' ' 

She  could  not  stifle  down  the  quick  appeal,  "  Must 
you  go?  " 

"  Of  course,  I  must  go,"  he  replied  roughly,  "  I  ought 


258  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

never  to  have  come,  and  I  am  sorry  I  did,  even  though 
I  have  helped  you.    Good-bye." 

She  watched  him  put  on  his  greatcoat  without  an- 
other word,  almost  angry  with  herself  for  feeling  so  in- 
expressibly mean.  She  would  have  liked  to  tell  him  that 
she  had  been  unable  to  wait,  that  even  if  she  had  waited 
her  answer  would  have  been  the  same ;  but  she  felt  that 
all  this  must  come  afterwards  when  he  had  had  time. 

And  then  suddenly  he  turned  to  her  again. 

"  I'll  leave  this  here,  I  think,"  he  said,  putting  a  flat 
parcel  he  had  taken  out  from  his  pocket  on  the  piano, 
"  you  might  while  an  hour  or  so  by  looking  at  them.  It 
— it  isn't  all  cussedness,  Mrs.  Cruttenden;  I  should  like 
you  to  see  them.  I  should  like  you  to  know  something 
of  it,  once !  Good-bye ;  throw  them  into  the  fire  when 
you  have  done  with  them.    I  shall  not  want  them  again." 

"When  he  had  gone  she  went  over  to  the  piano,  and 
taking  the  packet  crouched  down  with  it  beside  the  fading 
fire-light,  which  she  stirred  into  a  blaze.  To  other  eyes 
the  room  might  have  looked  inexpressibly  dreary,  large, 
bare,  empty,  even  the  very  sofa,  imported  into  it  for  the 
old  man 's  invalid  use,  taken  away  for  him  when  the  stairs 
became  too  much  for  his  strength.  But  Aura  was  accus- 
tomed to  the  bareness ;  it  had  been  part  of  her  life  always. 

They  were  sketches  evidently,  and  on  the  fold  of  white 
paper,  which  was  their  last  covering,  Ned  had  written 
one  word. 

"Avilion."  _ 

She  sat  looking  at  them  all,  these  plans  and  sketches 
of  the  island  in  the  southern  sea,  that  was  to  have  been 
that  Island  of  the  Blessed,  of  which  a  glimpse  only  can 
be  seen  by  mortals,  when  at  sunset  time  the  golden  sea 
fades  into  the  golden  sky,  and  far  away — is  it  land  or  is 
it  cloud? — a  purple  shadow,  tipped  with  rosy  light  into 
distant  peaks,  fades  with  the  sky  into  the  grey  of  night. 

How  beautiful  they  were !  And  in  every  one  of  them, 
in  front,  even  of  the  foreground,  looking  out,  as  the 
painter  himself  must  have  looked  out,  over  the  blue  rip- 
ples, down  into  the  pellucid  cave  depths  where  strange 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  259 

fish  showed  in  flashes  of  colour,  towards  the  leafy  con- 
tours of  the  ilex  woods,  along  the  flower-decked  lawns, 
or  through  the  fluted  columns  of  marble  pavilions,  stood 
the  filmy  diaphanous  figure  of  a  woman,  white,  immobile, 
mist-like  with  averted  face. 

But  she  knew  who  it  was,  and  a  lump  rose  in  her  throat 
as  she  recognised  it  as  his  dream  of  her. 

She  was  not  worth  it !  No !  Behind  his  dream  of  her 
stood  a  reality  that  had  nothing  to  do  with  her.  He  was 
seeking,  and  she  was  seeking  something  that  had  nothing 
to  do  with  manhood  or  womanhood. 

The  fire  blazed  up  fiercely,  fitfully,  as  one  by  one  in 
obedience  to  his  request,  those  dreamful  figures  caught, 
flared  up  for  a  space,  and  then  died  down  into  little 
trembling  sparks. 

Behind  them  all  lay  Darkness  and  Peace.  So  to  her 
as  she  sat  holding  the  Dream  of  a  Man's  Love  in  her 
hands,  came  for  the  first  time  a  glimpse  of  the  sightless- 
ness and  soundlessness,  and  touchlessness,  which  lie  be- 
yond all  earthly  things. 

Ned  meanwhile  was  giving  his  orders  to  Martha  in  the 
kitchen.  She  was  taking  them,  as  usual,  with  many 
subservient  bobs,  but  with  a  certain  waveringness  of 
voice,  and  an  unsteadiness  of  eye  which  augured  ill  for 
her  calm  of  mind. 

"I'll  do  my  best,  your  lordship,"  she  said  finally  with 
an  odd  little  sniff,  half  tears,  half  anger.  "  But  what 
with  folks  going  away  as  shud  'ave  stayed,  an'  them  as 
might  a-gone  away  an'  welcome  stoppin'  on,  an'  both 
together  comin'  back  an'  staying  away,  I'm  like  a  o-ven 
with  the  door  bein'  open  constant — not  fit  to  bake  a 
penny-piece. ' ' 

Ned  looked  at  her,  for  a  wonder,  distastefully. 

"  Do  you  mean,"  he  said,  "  that  you  didn't  expect  to 
see  me  again?  " 

Martha  grew  red,  then  white.  "  So  sure  as  my  name  s 
Martha  Higgins,"  she  began  tearfully,  "  If  I'd  expected 
vour  lordship  wasn't  play  in'  the  back-step " 

He  interrupted  her  calmly.     "I'm  sorry  to  say  it, 


260 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


Martha,  but  I  think  you  are  a  fool, ' '  he  said  calmly,  and 
left  her  collapsed  in  a  chair  crying  silently,  not  so  much 
for  herself  as  for  him;  since  she  had  seen  the  tragedy 
of  his  face. 

Adam  Bate,  coming  in  ten  minutes  later,  found  her 
so,  and  being  diffident  of  his  power  to  console,  crept  away 
again  to  administer  comfort  to  a  newly  calved  cow  who 
was  lowing  for  her  young  one. 

"  Coo-up,  Coo-ep,  m'dear,"  he  said,  wisping  its  back 
with  a  handful  of  straw,  "  th'  shallt  'ave  it  for  sure  when 
th'  bags  full,  so  set  th'  mind  to  the  makin'  o'  milk.  See ! 
there's  a  bit  o'  mangle  fur  'ee,  but  mind  'ee  '  to  whom 
much  is  given  of  them  shall  much  be  requir-ed,'  as  passon 
says.  So—'  pail-full,  cauf-full.'  Think  o'  that  an'  din- 
not  squander  God's  strength  on  booin'." 

He  felt  inclined  to  read  some  such  moral  lesson  to 
Martha  when  he  returned  to  find  her  in  no  better  case, 
the  fire  dwindling  and  no  sign  of  tea ;  but,  as  has  been 
said,  he  felt  diffident.  So  he  contented  himself  with 
laying  the  tea,  poking  up  the  fire  and  putting  on  the 
kettle,  accompanying  these  unwonted  actions  with  the 
hissing  noise  which  grooms  use,  apparently  as  an  en- 
couragement to  their  own  ardour.  Perhaps  this  aided 
him  to  courage;  perhaps  the  presence  of  death  in  the 
house  taking  him  back  to  fundamentals  roused  in  him  a 
revolt  of  vitality,  a  desire  to  secure  safety  in  equilibrium ; 
anyhow,  after  a  time,  he  sat  himself  down  in  a  kitchen 
chair,  and  scrooped  it  by  excruciating  half-inches  towards 
Martha's,  until  they  almost  touched. 

"  Martha,  woman!  "  he  said  tentatively,  "  If  this  sort 
o'  thing's  goin'  on— If  you  'urns  goin'  to  be  taken,  this 
no  supper,  no  tea  way,  as  you  'um  bin  doin'  o'  late — why 
there  ain't  nothin'  for  it  but  ter  marry  me,  as  doan't 
f orgit  them  things. ' ' 

Martha  shook  her  head  forlornly.  "  It— it'll  have  to 
come  to  that  in  the  end,  I  sippose, ' '  she  sobbed. 

You  might  have  knocked  Adam  down  with  a  feather. 
After  all  these  fourteen  years  to  be  even  so  grudgingly 
accepted  as  this,  made  him  feel  that  the  round  world  was 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  261 

no  longer  sure.  He  sat  with  his  mouth  wide  open,  won- 
dering what  topic  of  conversation  would  in  the  future 
take  the  place  of  unending  proposal  and  refusal.  Then 
the  sense  that  he  must  leave  such  dark  things  to  Provi- 
dence, and  do  his  duty  in  the  present  by  himself,  and 
Martha  made  him  ask  tremulously — 

"  Will  you  name  the  yappy  day,  my  darlin'?  Will 
you,  my  darlin',  name  the  yappy  day?  " 

Martha  wiped  her  eyes  and  became  more  composed. 
"  Some  time  afore  we  dies,  I  suppose,"  she  said  with  a 
disconsolate  whimper,  "  I  can't  promise  more'n  that, 
Adam  Bate- 


CHAPTER    XXII 

When  Ned  Blackborough  left  Cwmfairnog  he  left  be- 
hind him  also  the  very  desire  for  dreams.  He  remained 
simply  a  rich  man  with  no  wants  save  for  what  wealth 
can  bring.  All  the  rest — the  capacity  for  imagination 
inclusive — was  mere  moonshine.  For  the  first  time  in  his 
life  the  pompous  luxury  of  New  Park  did  not  offend 
him,  he  drank  a  bottle  of  ludicrously  high-priced  cham- 
pagne for  supper,  he  smoked  a  good  many  ludicrously 
highly-drugged  cigarettes,  not  as  he  generally  did  almost 
unconsciously,  but  of  set  purpose,  taking  a  solid  joy  in 
the  fuddled  state  to  which  they  reduced  him. 

He  woke,  of  course,  with  a  headache  next  morning,  and 
having  had  breakfast  he  looked  at  his  bank-book,  a  thing 
he  had  not  done  for  months.  It  was  not  exactly  exhilarat- 
ing to  a  man  who  had  just  made  up  his  mind  to  enjoy 
what  he  could  as  a  millionaire ! 

But,  even  as  he  looked  at  the  balance,  something  in 
him  rose  up  and  mocked  at  him.  How  long  would  this 
phase  last  ?  How  long  could  this  pompous  acquiescence  in 
wealth  as  a  means  of  pleasure  last !  How  could  eyes  that 
had  once  seen,  ears  that  had  once  heard,  remain  blind  and 
deaf  to  the  only  realities,  the  only  pleasures  of  life  ? 

He  put  the  question  aside  in  an  attempt  to  find  any- 
thing but  party  in  the  politics  of  the  morning  paper,  and 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  synonymous 
terms,  he  ordered  the  motor  and  went  round  to  Egworth 
to  St.  Helena's  Hospital.  Woods,  the  little  secretary,  al- 
ways had  a  tonic  effect  on  him,  and  he  really  wanted  to 
see  how  things  had  been  going  on  in  his  absence.  He 
found  the  secretary's  office  full  up  with  business,  and 
little  Wood's  face  keener  than  ever. 

262 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  263 

11  It  is  going  on  all  right,  sir,  and  I  have  kept  strictly 
to  the  lines  you  laid  down;  but  it  involves  a  good 
deal  of — of  tact  and  correspondence  " — he  pulled  a  file 
towards  him  and  fingered  it.  "  This,  for  instance,  con- 
tains nothing  but  applications  to  me  personally  for  fairly 
fair  contracts  of  sorts,  based  on  secret  commission.  These 
I  answer  myself,  as  the  firms  sending  the  suggestions  are 
really  quite  respectable.  The  minor  tradesmen,  and  all 
applications  made  through  the  servants  I  leave  to  the 
clerks." 

"  You  leave  to  the  clerks,"  echoed  Ned  thoughtfully, 
"  and  some,  no  doubt,  never  come  into  the  office  at  all." 

Woods  shrugged  his  high  shoulders,  "  One  can  expect 
nothing  else.  It  is  impossible  to  gauge  the  extent  to 
which  dislike  to  what  they  call  ' '  splitting  ' '  obtains 
amongst  domestic  servants.  They  will  never  tell  on  an- 
other. A  great  many  of  them,  of  course,  refuse  these 
monstrous  suggestions  for  taking  toll,  but  they  would 
never  dream  of  speaking  to  their  employers  about  them, 
as  they  should."  He  sighed  impatiently.  "  But  what 
can  you  expect?  "Where  are  the  fundamental  principles 
of  fair  dealing  taught  in  England  ?    Nowhere !  ' ' 

' '  Hullo,  Woods !  ' '  remarked  Ned  with  a  laugh, 
"  Don't  throw  over  '  caveat  emptor.9  It  is  the  founda- 
tion stone  of  England 's  power. ' '  Then  he  frowned.  ' '  By 
the  way,  how  are  the  men  down  at  Biggie  getting  on — 
you  gave  them  their  wage  every  week  for  a  month,  I 
suppose?  " 

"  I  did,"  replied  Woods  gravely,  "  There  is  a  lot  of 
distress  down  there.  You  see  it  is  not  like  a  strike ;  you 
have  definitely  closed  the  works  and  paid  forfeit  on  con- 
tracts. So  the  unions  won't  help.  Some  of  these  men 
have  drifted  away;  but  the  trade  is  slack  all  over  Eng- 
land. I  won't  say  because  of  dumping;  but  the  fact 
remains.    It  is  slack." 

Lord  Blackborough  looked  at  his  secretary  narrowly. 
"  Woods!  "  he  said,  "  what  would  you  do?  " 

The  keen  face  lit  up.  "  Do,"  he  echoed,  "  I  know 
what  I  should  dearly  like  to  do — try  an  experiment. 


264  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

There  are  a  lot  of  clever  men  in  that  factory,  your  lord- 
ship ;  I  should  lend  them  the  capital  to  run  the  concern 
at  one  and  a  half  per  cent,  interest,  and — and  await  the 
result.    Either  way  it  would  be  an  object-lesson." 

' '  It  would  pay  me, ' '  said  Lord  Blackborough,  ' '  if  the 
state  of  affairs  is  to  remain  as  bad  as  it  has  been.  I  '11 — 
I  '11  see  about  it,  Woods.  Then  I  may  take  it  that  the  hos- 
pital is  really  working  on  the  lines  I  laid  down  ?  ' ' 

Woods  coughed.  ' '  We  are  all  very  much  on  the  look- 
out for  fraud,  your  lordship,"  he  said  meekly,  "  but 
there  must  always  be  a  percentage  of  error,  so  long  as 
every  one  wishes  to  coin  his  neighbour  into  golden  sov- 
ereigns. ' ' 

"And  that  will  be  always,  Woods,"  remarked  Lord 
Blackborough  with  a  laugh,  "  I  believe  it  to  be  an  en- 
trancing occupation,  and  I  mean  to  try  it  myself." 

He  sought  out  Helen  after  this,  and  found  her  also  up 
to  the  ears  in  business. 

"  It  is  a  terrible  responsibility,  Ned,"  she  remarked, 
"  and  I  am  afraid  I  have  to  deluge  poor  Mr.  Woods  with 
references ;  but  really  I  cannot  trust  to  any  one — I  mean 
outside  the  hospital.  Within  it  we  are  a  picked  lot  and 
we  do — fairly  well." 

The  doubtful  praise  fell  almost  wearily  from  her  lips. 

"And  how  is  No.  36!  "  he  asked. 

She  brightened  up.  "  Going  on,  Sister  Ann  says, 
splendidly.  Dr.  Ramsay  operated  on  him  a  fortnight 
after  we  started,  and  it  was  a  complete  success.  The 
doctors  from  St.  Peter's  were  over  seeing  him  yesterday, 
and  even  they  allowed  it  was  splendid. ' ' 

"And  how  about  the  expenses;  will  the  parents  pay 
anything  reasonable  for  board  ?  ' ' 

She  shook  her  head.  "  Mr.  Woods  says  you  cannot 
expect  it.  You  see  the  children  get  their  education  free, 
very  often  their  dinners  free;  so  why  shouldn't  they  get 
cured  by  charity?  There  isn't  much  responsibility  left 
to  poor  parents  now-a-days.    It — it  doesn't  pay." 

"And  Ramsay?  "  asked  Ned  with  a  smile.  "  I  hope 
his  shirts  are  in  decent  order. ' ' 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  265 

She  flushed  up  a  brilliant  carmine.  "  Has  Dr.  Ram- 
say been  complaining?  "  she  asked. 

"  Great  heavens  above!  No!  "  exclaimed  Ned  aghast. 
' '  Has  it  come  to  that  ? — no — I  haven 't  seen  him  yet. ' ' 

"  Perhaps  you  had  better  ask  him  yourself,"  she  said 
coldly.  Then  she  looked  at  him.  "And  about  yourself., 
Ned.    You  've  told  me  nothing. ' ' 

' '  Because,  dear, ' '  he  replied  lightly, ' '  there  is  nothing 
to  tell.  By  the  way,  have  you  heard  that  Aura  Graham 
married  my  friend  Ted  Cruttenden  on  Valentine 's  Day  ? 
You  hadn't?  Well,  it's  a  fact  anyhow;  and  she  has  just 
lost  her  grandfather. ' ' 

"  Ned!  "  she  cried  rising  in  swift  sympathy,  "  I — I 
am  so  sorry." 

' '  Yes !  it  is  rather  sad, ' '  he  remarked  coolly.  ' '  Of 
course  it  breaks  up  that  jolly  little  unconventional  home. 
By  Jove !  I  daresay  it  will  have  to  be  sold ;  and  in  that 
case  I  shouldn't  mind  buying  it.  It  would  remind  me 
of  rather  a  jolly  time." 

His  insouciance  silenced  her,  and  he  went  off  on  his 
tour  of  inspection  to  Sister  Ann,  whom  he  found  in  the 
convalescent  ward,  very  spic  and  span,  very  precise  and 
satisfied. 

"  He  has  not  had  a  single  drawback,"  she  said 
glancing  complacently  at  No.  36,  who  lay  looking  like  an 
angel  for  virtue  on  a  wheeled  bed.  "If  he  goes  on  like 
this,  he  will  be  discharged  in  a  month  at  most.  Of  course 
he  will  not  be  quite  sound;  he  is  too  radically  disease- 
sodden  for  that,  but  he  will  be  able  to  make  his  own  living 
and " 

1 '  And  marry, ' '  put  in  Lord  Blackborough  calmly.  ' '  It 
is  altogether  a  most  satisfactory  business. ' ' 

Sister  Ann  looked  at  him  doubtfully.  "  So  far  as  I 
am  concerned  it  is  so,  certainly.  I  disclaim  responsibility 
after  a  patient  leaves  my  hospital." 

"  My  dear  Sister  Ann,"  laughed  Lord  Blackborough, 
"  I  disclaim  all  responsibility  for  anything.  It  is  the 
only  possible  way  of  feeling  moral. ' ' 

He  found  Dr.  Ramsay  looking  a  trifle  egare  in  a  room 


266  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

of  surpassing  tidiness.  Helen's  hand  was  visible  also  in 
the  doctor's  dress.  He  had  nothing  but  good  to  report 
in  every  way  except  that  he  had  found  it  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  ensure  a  supply  of  absolutely  undeniable  drugs. 

"It  is  not  that  any  one  deliberately  means  to  cheat, 
but  that  the  real  thing  is  so  difficult  to  get, ' '  he  remarked 
ruefully.  "  You  see,  if  a  fellow  sells  wine  or  spirits  that 
isn't  genuine  he  can  be  run  in;  but  you  may  kill  half  a 
dozen  babies  by  selling  stale  ipecacuhana  wine  or  any 
other  filth  and  no  one  asks  questions." 

He  was  loud  in  praise  of  his  assistants,  the  secretary, 
Sister  Ann.    Each  and  all  were  first-class. 

"And  Helen — Mrs.  Tresillian,  I  mean?  "  asked  Ned 
drily,  "  I  hope  she  is  satisfactory  as  matron." 

Peter  Ramsay's  face  showed  a  trifle  more  colour. 
"  Satisfactory,"  he  echoed,  "  she  is  more  than  satisfac- 
tory !  Do  you  know — "  his  voice  sank  to  an  almost  awed 
tone — "  I  believe  she  looks  after  my — my  underclothes 
herself." 

Ned  Blackborough  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter. 

"  My  poor  Peter!  "  he  said,  "  vested  interests  again! 
It 's  too  bad !  ' '  Then  he  sobered  down  and  looked  quite 
gravely  at  the  doctor,  who  was  laughing  too. 

"  Ramsay,"  he  said,  "  why  don't  you  ask  my  cousin 
to  marry  you  ?  ' ' 

' '  I  asked  her  yesterday, ' '  replied  the  doctor  gloomily. 

"  The  devil  you  did!  "  ejaculated  Ned.  Vaguely  all 
this  interested  him,  made  him  forget  himself.  "  What 
did  she  say?  " 

Peter  Ramsay  got  up  and  walked  about  the  room. 
"  What  did  she  say?  It  is  an  odd  thing,  Blackborough, 
what  different  ideas  people  have  about  love.  I  used  to 
think  it  was  a  kind  of  fever  that  would  yield  to  strict 
diet,  and  a  saline  treatment.  It  isn't.  At  least  some- 
thing which  has  got  mixed  up  in  it  may  be  so ;  but — now 
on  the  other  hand  your  cousin,  who  is  a  sensible  woman, 
mind  you,  seems  to  me  somehow  to  have  got  hold  of  the 
wrong  end  of  the  stick.  She  thinks — oh !  hang  it  all  I 
can't  go  vivisecting  what  she  thinks — it's  bad  enough  to 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  267 

do  it  for  oneself — but  because  she  can't  at  nine-and- 
twenty  feel  the  same — yes !  I  '11  say  it — purely  physical 
attraction  for  me  that  she  felt  for  that  poor  sick  man 
at  nineteen,  she  says  that  it  is  a  desecration  for  any  one 
even  to  speak  of  marriage  to  her.  I  often  wish  the  good 
women  of  the  world  could  be  made  to  understand  how 
purely  evanescent  that  sort  of  thing  is,  for  how  little  it 
counts  in  the  aggregate  sum  of  life.  Here  is  Helen — Mrs. 
Tressilian — giving  it  first  place,  while  other  good  women 
relegate  it  to  the  nethermost  hell ;  and  all  the  while  they 
prate  about  love  with  a  big  L. ' ' 

"  My  dear  Ramsay, "  remarked  Ned,  "  I'll  give  you 
ten  thousand  a  year  to  go  about  the  country  and  preach 
your  views — and  I  '11  give  you  a  thousand  extra  for  every 
woman  you  convert  to  them." 

"  jQuite  safe,"  assented  Dr.  Ramsay  with  a  growl.  "  I 
should  be  lvnched  before  my  first  quarter's  salary  was 
due." 

"  Meanwhile  you  will  stick  to  it — and  manage?  " 

1 '  Oh !  I  '11  manage  all  right.  I  have  an  Al  prescrip- 
tion for  the  febrile  part  of  the  disease — I — I  should  like 
to  give  it  to  you " 

The  red  brown  eyes  looked  into  the  blue  ones.  "  Yes!  " 
replied  Ned  coolly,  "  she  has  married  the  other  fellow 
because,  no  doubt,  love  seemed  to  her  to  be  the  devil. 
You  are  about  right,  Ramsay.  Women  are  impayable 
in  that  connection.    Good-bye." 

He  tried  to  amuse  himself  in  a  thousand  ways  that 
afternoon,  but  they  all  failed,  so  he  took  to  business  the 
next  day,  and  went  back  to  New  Park  in  the  evening  and 
drank  another  bottle  of  champagne  and  smoked  still  more 
cigarettes. 

The  next  day  brought  him  a  letter  in  an  unknown 
hand.  Was  it  a  man's  or  a  woman's,  he  wondered.  A 
woman's  surely,  since  the  black-edged  envelope  smelt 
horribly  of  scent  as  he  opened  it. 

Aura  Cruttenden!  The  signature  gave  him  quite  a 
shock.  The  idea  of  her  using  either  black-edged  paper  or 
scent  revolted  him,  but  the  letter  was — passable. 


258  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

"  Dear  Ned,"  it  ran,  "  I  suppose  I  ought  to  call  you 
Lord  Blackborough,  but  I  can't.  I  shall  never  forget 
you.  You  have  taught  me,  I  think,  everything  I  know 
that's  worth  knowing.  Perhaps  ever  so  long  age  you  and 
I  were  the  same  Amoeba.  What  are  we  going  to  be  in 
the  end.  That  is  the  question.  Don't — don't  quarrel 
with  us,  please. — Yours, 

"  Aura  Cruttenden." 

"  Don't  quarrel!  "  That  was  all  very  well;  but  what 
else  was  there  to  do?  It  was  impossible  for  him  to  go 
on  drinking  champagne  and  smoking  cigarettes  till  he 
died. 

Finally,  he  tried  London  and  a  round  of  the  theatres 
and  music-halls.  He  amused  himself  immensely  and  was 
never  for  one  instant  content.  He  played  bridge  at  the 
club,  and  went  no  trumps  until  a  choleric  old  gentleman 
remarked  that  it  was  no  wonder  he  had  such  a  dislike 
to  the  Day  of  Judgment.  Whereupon  he  laughed  and 
played  no  more.  Then  he  sought  out  Mr.  Hirsch,  and 
went  gold-bugging  in  the  city,  but  after  dining  en  petit 
comite  with  many  Jews,  Turks,  Infidels  and  Heretics  at 
every  smart  set  restaurant  in  London,  at  every  one  of 
which  Mr.  Hirsch  called  the  waiters  by  their  names  as 
if  they  were  his  own  servants,  he  gave  it  up  in  sheer 
disgust,  and  tried  to  feel  an  interest  in  the  Grand  Na- 
tional, even  to  the  extent  of  allowing  himself  to  bet  free- 
ly with  his  friends.  He  did  everything  in  fact  that  a 
man  can  do  to  please  himself,  short  of  buying  cheap  or 
dear  kisses;  and  even  that  he  might  have  done,  being 
for  the  time  quite  reckless,  but  for  the  fact  he  was  soul- 
weary  of  womanhood,  her  ways  and  wTorks.  Finally  he 
went  back  to  Blackborough  and  felt  the  first  really  keen 
and  natural  emotion  of  which  he  had  been  capable  for  a 
month,  when  he  met  Ted  Cruttenden  by  chance  in  the 
street. 

"  I  hope  your  wife  is  quite  well,"  he  said  sedately, 
feeling  then  and  there  a  desire  to  throttle  his  successful 
rival.     It  was  a  most  wholesome  feeling,  he  recognised, 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  269 

for  it  sent  the  blood  coursing  through  his  veins  once  more 
in  honest  antagonism  to  something  of  which  he  disap- 
proved. Ted  seemed  to  feel  this  antagonism  pierce 
through  him,  decorously  dressed  in  a  black  business  suit 
though  he  was,  for  he  said  hurriedly — "  Oh!  all  right. 
Won't  you  come  into  the  office  for  a  moment.  I — I 
should  like  to  speak  to  you." 

Ned,  regarding  himself  once  more  from  the  outside, 
felt  vaguely  amused,  and  acquiesced. 

"  Of  course,"  began  Ted,  for  his  part  feeling  abso- 
lutely a  somewhat  ill-used  and  thoroughly  misunderstood 
man,  ' '  I  know  the  whole  affair  must  seem,  as  it  were  un- 
derhand; but — "  he  looked  doubtfully  at  his  companion 
as  if  uncertain  how  much  he  knew,  before  resolving  on 
the  whole  truth  as  safest.  "  I  suppose  you  know  now, 
or  guess,  that  when  you  came  here  last  Aura  and  I 
were  engaged.  Well!  it  was  so.  Your  coming  and 
telling  me  you  had  asked  her,  put  me  in  an  awful  hole 
for  I  had  no  right,  on  my  part,  to  tell  you — anything. 
The  whole  affair  was  strictly  private,  I  hope  you  under- 
stand. ' ' 

"  I  understand  that  you  wished  it  to  be  private,"  re- 
marked Ned  clearly. 

"  It  had  to  be,  my  dear  fellow,"  replied  Ted  eagerly. 
"  To  begin  with,  we  were  engaged  rather  hurriedly  in 
order  to  please  her  grandfather — chiefly;  and  I — I  felt 
I  had  no  right  to  presume  on  it;  it  might  never  have 
come  to  anything.  It  couldn't  for  a  long  time,  for  I 
wasn  't  in  a  position  to  marry. ' '  Here  his  face  fell,  and 
he  threw  down  the  pen  with  which  he  had  been  fiddling 
in  sudden  impatience.  ' '  For  the  matter  of  that,  I  'm  not 
in  it  now.  These  confounded  interruptions  have  played 
the  dickens,  and  we  shall  have  to  begin  in  a  small  way ; 
for  she  hasn't  a  penny.  The  place  is  over-mortgaged 
and  even  the  furniture  has  to  be  sold.  In  fact,  if  it 
doesn't  realise  a  decent  price,  I  might  be  let  in.  Where 
was  I?  Oh!  yes.  Then  in  February,  just  as  I  was  in 
the  throes  of  a  really  good  thing,  I  was  telegraphed  for 
again.    I  had  been  down  twice  before,  and  really,  only 


270  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

because  the  old  man  was  not  satisfied,  that  we  would  keep 
to  our  engagement.    So "  he  paused. 

"  Well?  "  remarked  Ned. 

"  I  took  down  a  marriage  license  with  me — it  was  ab- 
solutely necessary,  you  see,  that  I  should  get  away  again 
as  soon  as  I  could,  and  I  thought,  if  the  worst  came  to 
the  worst,  it  would  calm  the  old  man  to  feel  that  we  were 
married.  So  you  see  there  was  no  time  to  give  any  one 
any  notice. ' ' 

' '  And  you  were  married, ' '  remarked  Ned  again  in  the 
same  clear,  hard  voice. 

"  Yes!  The  rector  married  us  in  the  old  man's  room, 
with  Martha  and  him  as  witnesses,  half  an  hour  before  I 
started.  That  is  really  the  whole  story — exactly  how  it 
came  about/ ' 

"  And  you  went  back,  when?  "  asked  Ned  Blackbor- 
ough  quickly. 

' '  I  never  went  back.  It  was  awfully  important  that  I 
should  have  a  free  hand,  and  that  is  how  it  came — about 
the  telegrams,  I  mean  —  I  had  purposely  left  no  ad- 
dress  " 

The  tapping  of  Ned's  stick  on  the  floor,  which  had  been 
going  on  as  he  sat,  his  elbow  on  his  knees,  listening, 
ceased.  '  *  Then  you  mean  to  say, ' '  he  said  slowly,  rising 
as  he  spoke,  ' '  that  when  I  saw — Aura — the  other  day — 

she "      Suddenly   he   laughed  —  "  Good-bye,  Ted; 

you're  not  a  bad  sort  of  a  chap  on  the  whole — but  you 
have  the  devil 's  own  luck !  If  I  had  only  known — if  I 
had  guessed  that  she "  His  voice  rose  in  sudden  an- 
ger, then  paused.    What  was  the  good  ? 

"  Are  you  going  to  finish  your  sentence,  Lord  Black- 
borough  ?  ' '  flared  up  Ted  in  anger  also. 

"  Yes!  "  replied  Ned  without  an  instant's  hesitation, 
reverting  to  his  usual  tone,  "lam  going  to  finish  it.  I 
am  going  to  tell  you  the  truth — though  you  haven't  told 
it  to  me.  There  is  no  use  in  your  not  facing  it,  man. 
Aura  doesn't  by  right  belong  to  you — she  belongs  to  me. 
If  I'd  known  then— when  I  was  at  Cwnfairnog,  I  mean 
— what  I  know  now,  I — I  should  have  tried  to  take  her 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  271 

away  from  all  your  cursed  money-getting  even  then.  It 's 
different  now  ...  if  you  make  her  happy.  And  if  you 
don 't — I — I  won 't  be  such  a  fool  again !  That 's  fair  and 
square  and  above  board.    So — good-bye !  ' ' 

As  he  walked  through  the  streets  once  more,  he  felt 
that  this  was  the  last  straw.  Why  had  he  not  made  her 
understand  herself?  Why  had  he  not  carried  her  off 
then  and  there  to  Avilion?  Truly,  he  was  cursed  as  a 
fool.  He  ought  to  have  known,  he  ought  to  have  guessed, 
he  ought  to  have  understood. 

So,  as  he  wandered  aimlessly  through  the  city,  looking 
with  a  lack-lustre  eye  upon  all  its  hideous  sights  and 
sounds,  having  in  his  ears  the  silly  giggles  of  girls  as  they 
crowded  round  the  shop  windows,  having  in  his  eyes  an 
endless  procession  in  those  windows,  of  hats  and  gar- 
ments, and  flowers  and  frocks,  and  fal-lals  set  there  by 
men  as  a  bait  to  the  only  barter  which  is  allowed  to 
womanhood  without  restraint,  he  told  himself  that  he 
would  have  done  right  if  he  had  carried  her  away  from 
contamination  to  that  island  in  the  southern  seas,  where 
she  would  have  lived  to  rear  his  children  and  be.  .  .  . 

Ye  Gods !    What  should  she  not  have  been  ? 

For  an  instant  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  reality,  and  then 
the  Dream  of  Life  was  his  again;  but  though  the  Dan- 
cer of  the  World  had  on  all  the  charms  of  money  and 
civilisation  and  culture,  her  dancing  did  not  hold  his 
eyes. 

That  evening  he  went  over  to  the  hospital  and  found 
Helen,  darning  away  busily  at  something  which  she  has- 
tily thrust  into  her  work-basket  as  he  came  in.  Vested 
interests,  of  course ! 

"  I  am  going  away,  Helen,' '  he  said. 

"  Going  away,"  she  echoed.  "  Why,  Ned!  you  have 
only  just  come  back.  My  dear!  I  do  wish  you — you 
would  settle  down." 

' '  That  was  exactly  what  I  came  to  say  to  you, ' '  he  re- 
plied. "  Helen!  why  won't  you  marry  Ramsay?  You 
you  are  not  likely  to  find  a  better  fellow,  or  one  whom — 
you  like  better.    Why  not  marry  him,  instead  of  darning 


272 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 


his  underclothes  on  the  sly?  "  He  pointed  to  the  work- 
basket. 

1 '  My  duty  as  a  matron, ' '  she  began,  flushing  gloriously. 

"  That  will  be  cold  comfort  by-and-by,"  he  replied 
kindly.    i '  Your  duty  as  mater  would  be  more  satisfying. ' ' 

Helen  held  her  breath  for  a  moment,  then  it  exhaled 
in  a  little  childless  sigh. 

"  That  is  true,  Ned,"  she  said  quietly,  "  but  when  a 
woman  knows  what  Love  is,  she  cannot  give  herself  with- 
out it.  And  Love  comes  but  once  to  a  woman;  at  any 
rate  it  will  only  come  once  to  me. ' ' 

1 '  I  wonder, ' '  said  Ned  reflectively, l '  what  womanhood 
would  be  like  if  one  were  to  pound  down  every  one  who 
possessed  it  in  a  mortar  and  fashioned  them  afresh.  Well ! 
I  am  off — for  six  months. ' ' 

"  Where?  " 

"  I  will  say  India  this  time,"  he  replied  cheerfully. 
"  Then    my    letters    can    be    forwarded    to    Algiers — 

but "  this  he  added,  seeing  her  remonstrant  face — 

"  I  will  leave  my  address  with  my  agents,  so  you  can 
write  through  them  if  anything  is  wanted — but  it  won't 
be  wanted.  The  world  gets  on  as  well  without  me,  as  I 
get  on  without  the  world." 

He  went  round  afterwards  to  the  secretary's  office. 

"  How  much  capital  do  you  think  they  would  require 
to  run  that  factory  on  co-operative  lines  ?  "  he  asked. 

Woods  shook  his  head. 

"  More — more  than  you  ought  to  afford,  Lord  Black- 
borough,"  he  replied  evasively;  "  I  can't  keep  the  ex- 
penses down  as  I  should  wish,  even  here." 

*  *  Have  you  enough  to  go  on  with  ?  ' ' 

"  Plenty— but " 

"  Then  work  out  a  scheme,  please,  for  the  other  and 
have  it  ready  against  my  return.  And — and  stop  a  bit ! 
There  is  a  place  in  Wales — I'll  write  it  down — coming 
in  to  the  market  before  long.  Buy  it  in,  furniture  and 
all.  And  if  the  woman  who  is  in  charge — Martha's  her 
name — wants  to  stop  on — let  her  stop.  I  am  off  to — to 
India — for  six  months. ' ' 


CHAPTER   XXIII 

Did  Ned  Blackborough  go  to  India,  seeking  dreams  at 
the  feet  of  some  entranced  immobile  ascetic,  hidden  away 
even  from  the  sunshine  of  the  world  under  the  shade  of 
the  bo-tree  ?  Did  he  go  to  Algiers  and  seek  for  them  in 
the  desert  among  the  pathless  dunes,  where  every  step 
is  covered  by  the  eternally-restless,  eternally-recurring 
wind-writing  of  the  sand  ripples  ?  Or  remaining  closer  at 
hand  did  he,  in  some  remote  Cornish  village  seek  to  hear 
the  secret  of  dreams  that  is  told  unceasingly  in  the  roar 
and  the  hush  of  the  sea  ?  Or  on  the  eternal  snows,  which 
dominate  all  Europe  in  its  hurry  and  its  hunt  for  gold, 
which  look  out  with  cold  eyes  on  its  civilisation,  its  cul- 
ture, its  crime,  did  he  find  what  he  sought  hemmed  in 
by  calm  glaciers,  frozen,  ice-bound  ? 

The  one  would  have  served  his  purpose  quite  as  well 
as  another;  that  being  the  putting  in  of  time  in  a  man- 
ner which  did  not  offend  his  sensibilities ;  for,  as  he  told 
himself  often,  he  was  fast  becoming  a  crank. 

The  world,  as  it  was,  did  not  amuse  him  very  much; 
it  seemed  to  him  hopelessly  vulgar,  even  in  its  highest 
ideals  for  individual  success  and  individual  culture. 

Wherever  he  went,  and  as  to  that  none  but  himself 
knew,  he  returned  as  usual,  punctual  to  a  day.  It  was 
early  October  therefore,  when,  a  little  thinner,  consider- 
ably browner,  he  found  himself  walking  down  Accacia 
Road  West,  Blackborough,  looking  for  No.  10,  that  being 
the  address  where  he  was  told  the  Cruttendens  lived. 

He  was  going  to  see  if  Aura  was  happy.  Viewed  from 
the  outside  this  appeared  unlikely,  for  Accacia  Road  was 
not,  so  to  speak,  exhilarating,  though  it  was  broad  and 
open  enough,  with  the  usual  wide  asphalt  pavement  at 

273 


274  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

either  side,  and  a  rather  new-looking  well-swept  road,  all 
too  large  apparently  for  the  requirements  of  the  sparse- 
wheeled  traffic,  in  the  middle.  Possibly  the  inhabitants 
of  the  desirable  residences,  many  of  which  were  still  to 
let,  had  contemplated  being  carriage  people  and  had 
failed  of  their  intention. 

As  it  was,  it  had  a  distinctly  desolate  air.  At  intervals 
of  some  thirty  feet  upon  the  pavement  stood  little  pol- 
larded lime-trees,  each  apparently  glued  to  and  sup- 
ported by  yard-wide  gratings  of  cast  iron,  encircled  by 
the  mystic  legend  "  Blackborough  Municipal  Board." 
The  trees  stood  on  their  iron  bases  firmly,  just  as  the 
green-shaving  ones  in  the  boxes  of  Dutch  toys  do  on  their 
wooden  roundels,  and  Ned  felt  impelled  by  a  desire  to 
lift  one  up  and  set  it  down  again  skew-fashion,  just  out 
of  the  straight  line,  so  as  to  break  the  interminable  regu- 
larity which  made  him  feel  as  if  he  must  go  on  and  on 
to  the  very  end.  And  where  that  might  be  only  Heaven 
knew ;  beyond  mortal  sight  anyhow. 

Then,  mercifully,  the  very  quaintness  of  that  iron  pris- 
on-window of  a  grating,  between  root  and  leaf,  drew  his 
thoughts  away  at  a  tangent,  and  he  became  immersed  in 
an  imaginary  argument  between  them. 

Between  the  white-feeling  fibrelet,  down  in  the  dark- 
ness of  Earth  mother's  breast,  the  small  sightless  seeker 
supplying  the  leaves  with  all  things,  and  clamouring  in 
return  for  the  whisper  of  blue  skies,  fresh  breezes,  sing- 
ing birds,  and  the  smoke-dimmed  foliage  which  had  no 
tale  to  tell  save  of  smuts,  tradesmen's  carts,  electric 
trams,  and  babies'  perambulators. 

It  was  the  number  on  one  of  the  gates,  uniform  in  size, 
structure,  and  colour — which  occurred,  like  the  gratings, 
at  regular  intervals — that  made  him  pause  at  last,  and 
look  curiously  at  the  house  beyond  it. 

Impossible ! 

It  was  frankly  impossible  that  Aura,  living  there,  could 
be  happy ;  although,  no  doubt,  it  was  what  is  called  by 
auctioneers  a  "  most  superior  and  desirable  family  resi- 
dence. ' '    Semi-detached,  it  had  a  carriage  sweep  belong- 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  275 

ing  to  both  houses,  which  trended  away  from  a  gate  with 
"  No.  10,  Fernlea  "  upon  it,  past  one  bow- window,  one 
front  door,  two  bow  windows,  another  front  door,  and  a 
final  bow-window  to  the  further  gate  with  its  "  No.  11, 
Heatherdale. "  Which  was  superfluous;  the  number  or 
the  name  ? 

There  was  a  butcher's  trundle,  with  Hogg  upon  it  in 
gold  letters,  standing  at  one  gate,  a  butcher's  trundle 
with  Slogg  upon  it  at  the  other ;  and  as  Ned  Blackborough 
turned  in,  two  butcher  boys,  each  with  flat  baskets  on 
their  blue  linen  arms,  passed  out  from  the  little  narrow 
green  lattice-work  doors,  which  filled  up  the  space  between 
Fernlea  on  the  one  side  and  Heatherdale  on  the  other, 
and  the  high  garden  walls  which  separated  each  couple  of 
superior  residences  from  their  neighbouring  couples. 
The  boys  took  no  notice  of  each  other,  being  dignified 
rivals. 

How  could  Aura  be  happy,  thought  Ned,  in  an  envir- 
onment where  the  only  possibility  of  differentiating 
yourself  from  your  neighbour  was  by  employing  Slogg 
instead  of  Hogg? 

The  door  was  opened  to  him  by  what  is  called  a  su- 
perior house-parlourmaid,  a  young  person  of  lofty  man- 
ners, frizzed  hair,  and  much  starch. 

"  Wot  nynie?  "  she  asked,  superciliously. 

* '  Lord  Blackborough. ' ' 

Sudden  awe  left  her  hardly  any  voice  for  the  necessary 
announcement,  and  she  fled  back  precipitately  to  the 
kitchen.  ' '  Cookie !  ' '  she  exclaimed,  sinking  into  a  chair. 
' '  Did  you  ever !  Lord  Blackborough,  'im  as  owns  half 
the  town  an'  is  as  rich  as  Crees'  is — whoever  Crees  may 
be! — is  in  the  parlor — such  a  real  gent  to  look  at  too. 
And  that  ain't  all.  Missus  called  'im  '  Ned!  '  It's  for 
all  the  world  like  that  lovely  tale  in  the  Penny  Cupid  I 
was  reading  last  night  in  bed,  only  he  was  a  h  'earl. ' '  Her 
pert  eyes  grew  tender ;  she  sighed. 

' '  Did  she  now, ' '  said  Cookie,  a  lazy-looking,  fat  lump 
of  a  girl,  much  of  the  same  type.  "  Poor  master !  an'  he, 
if  you  like,  is  a  good-lookin '  f ellar ;  but  I  always  did  say 


276  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

she  wasn't  no  lady.  She  haven't  any  lace  on  her  under- 
clothes— at  least  none  to  speak  of." 

Meanwhile,  after  her  first  glad  incredulous  cry  of 
"  Ned,"  Aura  had  hastily  thrust  away  her  work  and 
risen. 

As  she  came  forward,  a  world  of  welcome  in  her  face, 
in  her  outstretched  hands,  Ned  Blackborough  realised  by 
his  swift  sense  of  disappointment  how  much — despite  his 
own  asseverations  to  the  contrary — he  had  counted  on 
unhappiness. 

Truly  women  were  kittle  cattle.  Truly  it  was  ill  proph- 
esying for  the  feminine  sex ! 

She  was  happy,  radiantly  happy.  Her  face,  if  thinner, 
was  infinitely  more  vivid;  if  less  beautiful  in  a  way  it 
was  far  more  alive.  It  was  this  which  struck  him — the 
vitality  of  it — its  firm  grip  on  life — its  almost  exuberant 
power.  It  seemed  to  him  as  if  two  souls,  two  minds,  two 
hearts  looked  out  at  him  from  her  eyes. 

He  was  no  fool.  He  understood  the  position  in  a  mo- 
ment ;  he  knew  that  love  was  worsted. 

"  So  you  are  quite  happy,"  he  said,  still  holding  her 
hand. 

"  Happy?  "  she  echoed.  "  Oh,  Ned!  I  have  never 
been  so  happy  in  all  my  life — everything  seems  so  new, 
everything  seems  to  go  on  and  on  for  ever,  as  if  there  was 
no  end  to  interest  and  pleasure. ' ' 

"I  am  glad,"  he  said  lamely,  then  added,  "  I 
shouldn't  have  thought " 

She  followed  his  eyes,  which  had  wandered  to  an  elec- 
tric blue  paper  covered  with  gigantic  poppies  of  a  deeper 
hue,  with  a  frieze  in  which  positively  Brobdingnagian 
flowers,  presumably  of  the  same  species,  curled  them- 
selves in  contortions  terribly  suggestive  of  a  bad  pain  in 
their  insides. 

"  Yes!  isn't  it  awful?  "  she  admitted  with  a  laugh; 
"  but  I  have  taken  all  the  furniture  you  see  out  of  this 
room  and  stuffed  it  away  in  another  empty  one  for  the 
present  " — an  odd  shy  smile  showed  on  her  face,  and 
seating  herself  on  a  stool  once  more  she  took  up  her  work 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  277 

again  and  recommenced  tucking  a  piece  of  muslin  with 
new-born  skill ;  for  in  the  old  days  she  had  never  touched 
a  needle.  "  And  it  isn't  quite  so  bad  here  at  the  back 
where  one  can't  see  people.  But  I  wish  my  poor  prim- 
roses would  grow.  I  got  them  in  a  wood  not  so  very  far 
away,  but  the  cats  won't  give  them  a  chance — they 
scratch  them  up  at  night,  poor  things !  ' '  Her  eyes  were 
sorrowfully  on  the  parallelogram  of  grass,  gravel,  and 
smut-blackened  stems  below  the  flight  of  grimy  steps, 
which  was  described  in  the  house-agent 's  list  as  a  charm- 
ing garden.  '  *  If  it  happens  again  I  shall  take  them  back. 
It  is  never  fair  to  keep  anything  where  it  can't  grow 
properly. ' ' 

"  Exactly  so,"  he  thought;  but  her  face  showed  abso- 
lute unconsciousness. 

"  What  do  you  find  to  do  with  yourself?  "  he  asked 
suddenly.    He  felt  he  would  go  mad  in  a  week. 

"  Do  !  " —  she  smiled.  ' '  Why,  I  never  have  half 
enough  time!  You  see  we  can't  afford  to  keep  experi- 
enced servants,  as  yet.  This  house  is  really  beyond  our 
income,  but  my  husband — Ted,  I  mean — was  afraid  I 
should  not  thrive  in  the  town.  It  is  very  good  of  him, 
isn't  it?  to  go  to  such  expense  for  me." 

"  Very,"  assented  Lord  Blackborough,  recognising 
Ted's  phraseology  and  feeling  bored. 

"  So  I  have  to  do  most  of  the  cooking,"  she  went  on 
quite  eagerly.  "  It  is  rather  fun,  though  Ted  is  quite  aw- 
fully particular  about  his  food.  But  he  says  I  am  getting 
quite  a — a  cordon  bleue — that's  right,  isn't  it?  " 

"  Quite  right,"  assented  Ned  gravely.  He  was  begin- 
ning to  wonder  how  he  should  get  away  from  this  at- 
mosphere of  satisfaction. 

1 '  And  then, ' '  she  went  on,  and  whether  she  smiled  or 
was  grave  he  could  not  tell,  for  her  face  was  bent  over 
her  work,  "  I  have  so  much  to  think  of — you  cannot 
know  how  much.  Sometimes  I  feel  as  if,  somehow,  the 
whole  world  was  bound  up  in  me. ' ' 

For  the  life  of  him  he  could  not  help  a  thrill  in  an- 
swer to  the  thrill  of  her  voice.    So  he  sat  looking  at  her 


278  ^    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

sewing  garments  for  another  man's  child,  until  his  heart 
waxed  hot,  and  he  said — 

' '  Has  it  never  struck  you,  Aura,  that  all  this  is — just 
a  little  rough  onme!" 

She  looked  up  at  him,  her  beautiful  eyes,  twin  stars 
of  mysterious  double  life,  brimming  with  swift  tears. 

"  You — you  shall  be  its  godfather,"  she  said  softly. 

He  could  have  cursed,  he  could  have  laughed,  he  could 
have  cried  over  the  pure  ridiculousness  of  the  reply ;  but 
the  pure  motherhood  in  her  eyes  was  too  much  for 
him. 

"  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof.' ' 
The  phrase  came  back  to  his  memory,  reproving  his  in- 
dividualism, setting  aside  all  other  claims  as  trivial. 

1 '  Well !  "  he  said,  rising  as  he  spoke,  ' '  there  is  noth- 
ing more  to  be  said.  So — having  found  you  happy — I 
must  be  going." 

"  Going,"  she  echoed  incredulously.  "  Oh,  no!  You 
must  stop  and  see  Ted.  It  is  Saturday  and  he  is  always 
home  by  three.  You  might  stop  and  come  with  us  to 
Chorley  Hill;  we  go  there  every  week  because  I  like  it. 
You  can  see  the  Welsh  mountains  quite  distinctly  if  it  is 
clear." 

Her  eyes  were  clear  anyhow.  She  was  her  old  self 
again  in  her  eagerness ;  the  girl  free,  unfettered  in  every 
way,  who  had  tramped  those  Welsh  mountains  with  him 
so  often.  He  could  see  her  with  the  wind  blowing 
amongst  her  bronze,  uncovered  curls,  billowing  amongst 
the  folds  of  her  white  linen  overall.  Why  did  she  wear 
black  now  1  To  save  the  washing  bills  he  expected.  And 
she  spent  her  life  chiefly,  no  doubt,  in  buying  a  herring 
and  a  half  for  three  halfpence !  She,  who  had  never  seen 
a  sixpence !  A  flood  of  annoyed  pity  swept  through  him 
at  the  needlessness  of  the  desecration,  rousing  his  antag- 
onism once  more. 

"As  it  is  just  on  three  now,"  he  replied,  "  I'll  stop 
and  see  him  anyhow. ' ' 

It  might  be  wiser,  he  felt.  It  would  be  a  thing  got 
over,  which,  after  the  abruptness  of  their  last  parting, 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  279 

was  desirable;  though,  on  the  whole,  he  was  inclined  to 
have  done  with  it  all,  to  congratulate  Ted  on  his  success, 
and  renounce  all  claim  on  a  woman  who  had  evidently 
forgotten  love  in  motherhood — and  housekeeping. 

He  felt  very  bitter ;  though  the  question  as  to  whether 
she  could  be  more  content  forced  itself  upon  him  rudely. 

"  There  he  is!  "  cried  Aura  joyfully,  as  in  the  jerry- 
built  house  the  grating  noise  of  a  latch-key  in  the  front 
lock  became  distinctly  audible  at  the  back.  "  I'll  run 
and  tell  him  you  are  here,  and  then  I  can  change  my 
dress  before  we  start.' ' 

It  was  on  the  whole  a  relief  that  they  two — men  who 
were  rivals — should  meet  without  the  cause  of  the  ri- 
valry being  present  also.  Though  magnanimity  was  the 
only  card  to  play.  What  else  was  possible  when  you 
could  distinctly  hear  the  cause  of  rivalry  being  kissed  in 
the  hall? 

Ned  Blackborough,  therefore,  was  frankness  itself. 
"  How  are  you,  Ted?  I  won't  say  I'm  glad,  but  I  do 
find  Aura  very  well,  and  very  happy — so — so  that  ends 
it,  I  suppose. ' ' 

Ted,  who  was  also  looking  the  picture  of  health  and 
happiness,  flushed  up  with  pleasure,  and  gripped  Lord 
Blackborough 's  hand  effusively.  ' '  Upon  my  soul,  Ned, ' ' 
he  cried,  ' '  you  are  just  an  awfully  good  sort — one  of  the 
best  fellows  living ;  and  I  feel  I  've  been  a  bit  of  a  beast. 
Only  you  don't  know  how  the  thought  that  we  should 
have  fallen  out  over  this  thing  has  worried  me.  It  is  real 
good  to  have  you  back  again.  And  she  is  happy,  isn't 
she  ? — bless  her  heart !  though  why  she  should  have  kept 
you  in  this  horrid  bare  room  at  the  back,  I  can't  think. 
Come  into  the  drawing-room,  old  man,  it  is  something 
like.  But  it  isn  't  a  bad  house,  is  it  ?  Far  too  expensive, 
of  course,  but " 

Afloat  on  finance,  Ted's  conscious  virtue  overflowed 
like  a  cold  douche  on  Ned's  patience,  which  had  almost 
succumbed  under  explanations  that,  after  all,  he  "  was 
getting  along,  but  that  it  was  safer — especially  with  ex- 
penses ahead — to  have  a  wide  margin, ' '  when  Aura  reap- 


280  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

peared.  She  was  wearing  the  white  coat  and  skirt,  the 
brown  Tain-o  '-Shanter  in  which  she  had  gone  to  Plas 
Af on.  Ned  used  often  to  say  that  in  his  last  incarnation  he 
must  either  have  been  a  woman  or  a  man  milliner ;  now  he 
recognised  without  effort,  that  not  only  had  Aura  knotted 
the  Mechlin  scarf  about  her  neck  but  that  she  also  car- 
ried the  sables  over  her  arm.    So  she  also  remembered. 

The  fact  decided  him  in  an  instant.  "  Let  me  take 
those, ' '  he  said  coolly.  She  looked  conscious  as  she  gave 
up  the  furs,  and  remarked  hurriedly,  "  We  can  walk 
there,  Ted ;  but  we  might  return  by  the  five-thirty  train 
from  Elsham." 

* '  Then  I  '11  wire  for  the  motor  to  meet  me  there, ' '  re- 
plied Ned.  "  It  is  only  six  miles  to  New  Park  and  there 
is  no  object  in  my  going  round  by  Blackborough  again ; 
besides  there  is  always  a  wait  at  the  junction. ' ' 

It  seemed  to  him  an  interminable  time  before  they  left 
the  lingering  outskirts  of  the  town  behind  them,  and 
even  when  the  last  bow-window  and  gable  tailed  down 
into  the  original  four-square  cottage,  the  country  about 
was  still  grime-clad,  smut-bound.  But  Aura  did  not  ap- 
pear to  notice  it.  In  her  eyes  sat  eternal  hope,  eternal 
spring,  which  finds  the  old  world  good. 

Even  when  they  sat  finally  on  the  sand-set  bit  of  com- 
mon, interspersed  with  straggly  heath  and  unkempt  gorse 
which  was  all  the  nature  that  Chorley  Hill  boasted,  she 
did  not  seem  to  see  the  copious  orange  peel,  the  screws 
of  sandwich  paper  which,  to  Ned's  fastidiousness  made 
the  place  horrible.  Her  eyes  were  on  the  distances  where 
the  Welsh  hills  showed  blue. 

' '  How  I  would  love  to  see  Cwmf aernog  again !  ' '  she 
said  suddenly,  "  you  know,  of  course,  the  poor  place 
had  to  be  sold.    Ted  very  nearly  had  to  pay ' 

Lord  Blackborough  cut  short  her  repetition.  "  But 
he  didn't,"  he  remarked,  "  f or  I  bought  it." 

'  You  bought  it,"  she  echoed  incredulously;  "  Ted 
never  told  me  that. ' '  She  glanced  to  her  husband,  who, 
flat  on  the  sand  with  his  hat  over  his  eyes,  was  apparently 
asleep  in  the  sunshine.    The  attitude  discovered  the  fact 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  281 

that  six  months  of  happy  married  life — and,  no  doubt, 
Aura's  cooking — had  made  him  perceptibly  larger  in 
the  waist.  He  was  evidently  following  Mr.  Hirsch's  ex- 
ample, thought  Ned;  though  he  might,  like  other  folk, 
have  grown  leaner  upon  grief ;  for  Ned,  happily,  had  not 
lost  the  faculty  of  mocking  at  his  own  troubles. 

"  I  wonder  why  he  never  told  me,"  said  Aura,  vaguely 
vexed,  making  Ned — like  the  fool  that  he  was,  he  told 
himself — instant  in  excuse. 

"  He  didn't  know,  I  expect;  my  agent  bought  it  for 
me.  Yes !  there  it  is  with  Martha  and  Adam— you  know 
they  are  married?  " 

Aura  laughed.  ' '  Yes !  I  had  a  letter  from  Martha  say- 
ing she  was  agreeably  disappointed  with  her  lot.  That  is 
what  I  am,  too ; "  she  paused.  * '  I  should  love  to  go  there 
again.    "Will  you  take  me  some  day?  " 

"  Perhaps,"  he  replied  soberly,  while  his  pulses 
bounded. 

"  May  would  be  the  best  month  for  me,"  she  said 
dreamily.  "  Besides  there  are  the  wild  hyacinths — they 
are  like  the  floor  of  heaven !  ' ' 

The  floor  of  heaven !  What  vague  memory  was  it  that 
woke  with  those  words?  A  blue  sea,  a  ripple  on  a  boat's 
side 

Then  Ted  woke  also,  clamouring  for  tea.  They  had 
it  at  a  little  inn,  and  were  very  merry ;  only  after  a  time 
the  conversation  always  seemed  to  drift  away  towards 
something  to  eat,  or  something  to  buy.  It  is  always  the 
herring  or  the  penny  which  had  to  be  paid  for  it.  That 
was  Ted's  fault.  The  sum  of  his  life  seemed  to  be  made 
up  of  duodecimal  fractions. 

' '  We  shall  have  to  foot  it  a  bit  if  we  are  to  catch  the 
train,"  said  Ted  gaily  as  they  started;  "  hold  on  to  me, 
Aura,  it 's  a  bit  slippery  down  the  hill. ' ' 

So  with  his  arm  tucked  into  hers,  and  Ned  on  the  other 
side,  they  made  their  way  talking  and  laughing.  Before 
long,  however,  the  talk  resolved  itself  into  an  argument 
between  the  two  men,  Ted  defending  the  action  of  a  cer- 
tain company,  Ned  stigmatising  it  as  a  swindle. 


282  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

11  The  short  cut  over  the  water-meadow,  Aura,"  said 
Ted,  interrupting  himself.  ' '  She  is  signalled,  and  it  will 
save  time."  He  drew  back  as  he  spoke  to  let  her  cross 
the  plank-bridge  which  spanned  the  ditch  and  to  clinch 
his  point.  "  I  maintain,"  he  went  on,  "  that  the  pro- 
spectus was  as  fair  as  any  prospectus  can  be,  for  one  is 
bound  to  put  on  rose-coloured  spectacles  in  writing  one, 
or  the  thing  won't  catch  on.  Men  who  have  money  to 
invest  ought  to  know " 

"  Take  care,"  cried  Ned,  who  was  watching  Aura; 
but  he  was  an  instant  too  late.  There  was  a  tiny  piece  of 
orange  peel  on  the  plank — the  rest  of  it  lay  amongst 
the  water-cresses  in  the  ditch — her  foot  slipped  on  it,  and 
she  caught  at  the  hand-railing  to  steady  herself,  so 
wrenching  herself  round  by  a  strong  effort  to  avoid  drop- 
ping feet  foremost  into  the  mud. 

It  was  quite  a  small  affair,  but  the  shock  of  it  left 
her  colourless,  half  on,  half  off  the  plank. 

' '  My  dearest !  ' '  cried  Ted  in  a  fearful  fuss,  ' '  you 
aren't " 

"  Not  a  bit,"  she  interrupted  gaily,  "  Give  me  your 
hand  up,  please."  But  there  was  a  scared,  frightened 
look  in  her  eyes,  and  five  minutes  afterwards,  as  they 
were  hurrying  on,  she  slackened  speed. 

"  We  haven't  over  much  time,  my  dear,"  said  Ted 
grudgingly. 

She  looked  at  him  almost  with  reproach.  "  I  suppose 
it  is  falling  so,  so  suddenly,"  she  began. 

"  Ted,"  interrupted  Lord  Blackborough,  "  I  believe 
I'd  better  take  you  wife  back  in  the  motor.  Sorry  I 
can't  take  you,  but  it  is  only  the  little  De  Dion.  If  you 
run  for  it  you'll  just  get  it.  We  shall  be  home  before 
you  will,  with  that  wait  at  the  junction." 

"  You  don't  mind,  do  you,  darling?  "  asked  Ted,  so- 
licitously. 

Five  minutes  afterwards  he  waved  his  handkerchief 
from  the  train  at  them  as  they  made  their  way  leisurely 
across  the  water-meadow. 

"  You  will  be  home  in  half  an  hour,  and  have  a  good 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  283 

rest,"  said  Ned  consolingly,  as  those  beautiful  eyes  with 
the  eternal  hope  in  them  looked  into  his  with  that  vague 
dread  growing  to  them. 

1 '  Yes, ' '  she  said  cheerfully,  ' '  it  was  only  the  start. ' ' 

But  ten  minutes  later  in  the  car,  she  laid  her  hand  sud- 
denly on  Ned's  as  it  held  the  steering  gear. 

"  Oh,  Ned!  "  she  said,  "  I'm— I'm  so  afraid!  "  Her 
voice  was  an  appeal,  and  he  bent  hastily  to  kiss  the  hand 
which  clung  to  his,  as  it  would  have  clung  to  any  human 
being. 

"  Cheer  up !  "he  said  huskily,  u  Nothing's  going  to  go 
wrong !  I  '11  have  you  home  in  no  time ;  so  let  me  steer 
straight,  will  you?  " 

The  little  car  swept  along  at  top  speed.  She  sat  still, 
her  face  drawn  and  pale,  her  hands  holding  hard  to  the 
white  folds  of  her  dress. 

Twelve  miles  at  least,  allowing  for  speed  limits  through 
the  town,  and  New  Park  close  at  hand;  just  in  fact, 
round  the  corner.  He  made  the  calculation  rapidly,  and 
began  to  sound  the  hooter. 

"  I  shall  take  you  in  here,"  he  said  decisively,  "  and 
telephone  to  Ted.  Then  when  you've  had  a  good  rest 
you  can  go  home." 

The  gates,  set  wide  open  at  his  signalling,  slipped  past 
in  the  growing  dusk,  a  rabbit  or  two  showed  nimble 
across  the  smooth  surface  of  the  drive. 

"  It  will  be  best,  perhaps,"  said  Aura,  with  a  catch 
in  her  breath. 

"  Of  course  it  will  be  best,"  he  replied  cheerfully,  as 
he  drew  up  in  the  wide  portico. 

"  The  housekeeper,  please!  "  he  called,  glad  for  once 
ot  the  decorous  hurry  of  obedience.  "  Take  Mrs.  Crut- 
tenden,  if  you  please,  Mrs.  Adgers,  and  let  her  rest  for 
a  little,"  he  said  to  the  dignified  lady  who  appeared  as 
if  by  magic.  Then,  only  waiting  to  add  in  a  lower  voice, 
' '  and  look  after  her ;  you  understand, ' '  he  was  in  the  car 
again  before  it  had  had  time  to  run  down,  and  was  off 
over  a  short  cut  to  St.  Helena's  Hospital,  which  lay  on 
the  hill  about  three  miles  off. 


2g4  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Thence  he  returned  in  twenty  minutes  with  Sister  Ann, 
leaving  Dr.  Ramsay  to  follow  more  leisurely. 

Finally,  having  sent  the  car  in  charge  of  a  chauffeur  to 
bring  Ted  along,  he  sat  in  the  library  and  smoked,  feel- 
ing half  derisive  at  the  irony  of  fate.  If  he  had  indeed 
been  Aura's  husband,  and  the  father  of  this  coming  child, 
what  more  could  he  have  done  ? 

Dr.  Ramsay  arrived  cool  and  collected  and  went  up- 
stairs. Ted  arrived  in  a  terrible  state  of  fuss  and  also 
went  upstairs.  Then  the  house  reverted  to  its  usual  staid 
routine.  The  gong  sounded  at  dressing-time,  and,  clad 
in  due  decorum,  Ned  dined  alone  in  the  huge  red  dining- 
room  which  looked  like  a  big  mouth  ready  to  swallow  him 
up.  The  footman,  overlooked  by  the  butler,  handed  him 
the  courses  gravely,  the  butler  filled  his  glass  with  '98 
Pomeroy.  Ned  had  not  asked  for  it  this  time,  but  it  was 
considered  the  proper  thing  with  sudden  and  serious  ill- 
ness in  the  house.  And  all  the  while  he  was  thinking 
how  little  life  and  death  would  affect  him,  if  all  these 
things  could  be  swept  away,  and  he  be  indeed  nothing 
more  than  Carlyle's  forked  radish  with  a  consciousness. 

Then  he  smoked  and  read  again  till  ten  o'clock,  when 
the  footman,  overlooked  by  the  butler,  brought  the  whisky 
and  water  into  the  library,  and  Dr.  Ramsay  came  with  it. 

"  I  shall  want  help,"  he  said,  "  but  I  don't  want  to 
alarm  him — her  husband.  She  is  as  brave  as  possible, 
but  he — so  I  thought  you " 

* '  Whom  do  you  want ?  ' '  asked  Ned,  going  to  the  tele- 
phone. 

Dr.  Ramsay  named  a  London  specialist,  and  Ned 
looked  up  quickly. 

"  As  bad  as  that?  "  he  asked. 

"  As  bad  as  it  can  be,  I'm  afraid,"  replied  the  doctor. 

After  the  specialist  had  been  summoned  and  duly 
bribed,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  sit  and  smoke  again, 
since  the  memory  of  those  beautiful  eyes  with  the  eternal 
hope  of  the  world's  immortality  in  them,  haunted  him 
beyond  the  cure  of  sleep.  If  he  had  been  her  husband, 
could  he  have  done  more,  could  he  have  felt  more? 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  285 

The  London  man  arrived  about  one  o'clock,  and  Ned, 
after  the  slight  bustle  of  his  coming  and  going  upstairs, 
heard  no  more  noise.  The  house  seemed  to  settle  down 
into  the  usual  silence  of  night. 

What  was  going  on  upstairs?  Would  she  pass  into 
the  Unseen  ?  Would  she  settle  the  question  once  and  for 
all? 

It  was  just  as  the  red  October  sunrise  was  beginning  to 
glow  through  the  trees  of  the  park,  that  Ned,  standing 
at  the  window  to  watch  it,  heard  the  click  of  the  door 
handle  behind  him,  and  turned  to  see  the  London  doctor, 
a  tall  man  with  eyeglasses  and  a  stoop. 

"  Well !  "  he  said  eagerly.    "  How  is  she  ?  " 

1 '  As  well  as  can — ah — ah — be  expected, ' '  said  the  spe- 
cialist, who  appeared  to  be  afflicted  with  a  stammer, ' '  af- 
ter such  a  very  serious — ah — ah — operation  as — ah — ah 
— was  necessary  to  save  the — the — the  interesting  pa- 
tient's life.  But — ah — ah — D.V.  it  is  saved,  and — and 
I  need  hardly  say  we — we  have  every  reason  to  be  thank- 
ful, even  though  the  future  is,  or  may  be — of  course " 

Here  Dr.  Ramsay  entered  the  room,  and  he  turned  to 
him.  "  I  was  just  preparing  Mr.  Cruttenden  for  the — 
ah — possibility ' ' 

"  This  is  Lord  Blackborough,  sir,"  interrupted  Peter 
Ramsay  impatiently.  ' '  I  told  you  I  had  given  Mr.  Crut- 
tenden a  sleeping  draught  after  the  immediate  danger  to 
life  was  over.  Mrs.  Cruttenden  was  brought  to  Lord 
Blackborough 's  house  just  after  the  accident.  Now,  sir, 
if  you  are  in  a  hurry  they  are  ready  to  take  you  to  the 
station." 

"  Just  so — ah!  "  murmured  the  great  man,  a  trifle 
confused.  "  Very  pleased  to  make  your  acquaintance, 
my  lord.    Thanks,  Doctor — ah " 

"  Ramsay,"  said  the  latter,  carrying  him  off  still 
blandly  stuttering. 

When  Peter  Ramsay  returned  he  found  Ned  looking  at 
the  sunrise  once  more.  The  whole  sky  was  growing  red, 
the  daylight  was  outpaling  the  lamp  beside  which  Ned 
had  watched  for  this  dawn. 


285  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Suddenly  he  spoke.  "Is  it  worth  while,  I  wonder, 
saving  life — sometimes?  Considering  what  motherhood 
means  to  some  women,  I  doubt  it." 

And  then  without  another  word  he  turned  from  the 
window,  and  sitting  down  at  the  writing-table  rested  his 
head  on  his  hand,  and  stared  out  vacantly  into  the  room, 
seeing  nothing  but  those  beautiful  eyes,  twin  stars  of 
two  souls. 

Those  eyes  that  were  never  to  be  satisfied !  No,  it  was 
not  worth  it. 

Then  he  glanced  round  at  the  doctor  who  stood  profes- 
sionally silent.  "  I'll  give  you  a  piece  of  advice,"  he 
said,  "  and  then  we'll  drop  the  subject.  If  you  have 
anything  to  say,  tell  her,  not  him.  You  will  make  it 
easier  for  her,  I  expect,  than  he  will." 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

'  *  We  refuse  your  terms,  your  lordship, ' '  said  the  leader 
of  the  deputation. 

Outside  the  manager 's  office  where  the  meeting  of  dele- 
gates was  being  held,  the  works  of  the  Biggie  factory  lay 
deserted  in  the  autumn  sunlight.  There  was  no  sign  of 
harvest  there  for  man  or  beast.  The  huge  engines  seemed 
asleep,  the  tall  factory  chimney  showed  a  cenotaph  pro- 
claiming a  dead  life.  Here  and  there  among  the  rows  of 
workmen's  houses  were  knots  of  men  despondently  ex- 
pectant, a  shrill  woman  or  two  voiced  her  wrongs  aggres- 
sively, the  children  in  the  gutter  looked  dirty,  unkempt, 
pale. 

Lord  Blackborough  stared  steadily  at  the  speaker. 
"  Then  you  hold  that  I  am  bound  to  start  these  works 
again,  despite  the  fact  that  they  have  been  running  at  a 
loss  for  some  years ;  and  you  hold  also  that  I  am  bound 
to  give  you  a  rise  in  wages  ?  ' ' 

"  The  men  in  these  works  cannot  accept  a  less  wage 
than  that  received  in  others  which,  excuse  me,  being  bet- 
ter managed,  pay  their  owners  well — far  too  well,"  re- 
plied Mr.  Green.  He  was  a  singularly  able-looking  man, 
curiously  taut  and  trim  in  words,  speech,  manner,  ap- 
parently in  soul. 

1 '  Then  I  am  not  only  to  receive  no  return  on  my  cap- 
ital, but  I  am  to  spend  other  capital  in  paying  you,  until 
Germany  ceases  to  make  our  goods  cheaper  than  we  can. 
Is  this  fair  ?  ' '  asked  Lord  Blackborough. 

"  Quite  fair,  your  lordship,"  replied  the  leader;  "  if 
only  because  the  capital  you  own  has  been  wrung  un- 
justly from  us — from  labour." 

"  All  capital  must  be,  as  you  call  it,  '  wrung  *  from 

287 


288  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

labour.  It  does  not  create  itself.  I  offer  you  this  capital 
at  a  very  low  rate  of  interest,  one  and  a  half  per  cent. 
If  labour  cannot  hope  to  make  even  so  much,  over  and 
above  livelihood,  that  seems  an  end  to  any  enlargement 
of  trade." 

There  was  a  pause;  then  Lord  Blackborough  smiled. 
"  I  cannot  complain  if  the  figures  before  you  make  you 
hesitate;  for  to  me  they  are  convincing.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, pass  over  that  offer.  My  next  is  one  to  re-open 
the  works,  but  on  a  different  system.  An  eight-hours' 
day,  piecework,  and  no  limitations  of  trades-unions  or 
any  other  organisation  regarding  the  out-run  of  any  in- 
dividual. ' ' 

A  faint  stir  could  be  heard  amongst  some  of  the  older 
men ;  but  Mr.  Green  still  stood  spokesman. 

11  That  is  absolutely  out  of  the  question,  your  lord- 
ship, ' '  he  said  decisively ;  "we  are  all  of  us  trades-union 
men.  Labour  must  reserve  to  itself  the  right  to  legis- 
late for  the  general  good  of  the  labourer ;  if  it  does  not, 
who  will  ?  No  one !  ' '  His  tone  grew  bitter.  ' '  We  have 
no  right  to  accept  a  form  of  payment  which  will  not 
give  a  living  wage  to " 

"  To  the  weakest,  to  the  bad  workmen,  the  laziest,  the 
most  drunken,"  put  in  Lord  Blackborough.  "  Person- 
ally, I  do  not  see  any  reason  at  all  why  that  class  of 
worker  should  continue  to  live.  You  only  have  to  level 
down  to  them.  But  I  am  not  here  to  combat  your  views, 
only  to  receive  your  ultimatum.    You  refuse?  " 

Mr.  Green  brought  his  hand  down  on  the  table  with 
dramatic  force. 

"  In  the  name  of  Labour  we  refuse  the  unjust,  iniqui- 
tous  " 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Lord  Blackborough  urbanely, 
then  turned  to  the  secretary.  ' '  Mr.  Woods !  Have  you 
those  documents  ready?  " 

"  They  are  here,  your  lordship."  Ned  Blackborough 
threw  off  his  gravity,  and  holding  the  papers  given  him 
in  his  hand,  smiled  round  the  company,  which,  as  if 
moved  thereto  by  some  magic  in  his  manner,  rose  also. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  289 

Mr.  Green  looked  from  one  to  the  other.  What  had  this 
tyrannical  employer  of  labour  up  his  sleeve? 

"  Men,"  said  the  employer  of  labour  frankly,  "  I  am 
going  to  pay  you  with  these,"  he  waved  the  papers, "  for 
listening  to  me  for  five  minutes.  Labour,  they  say,  is 
dissociating  itself  from  Capital,  Capital  from  Labour. 
That  may  be  so.  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  that.  Per- 
sonally I  have  money.  I  have  no  work.  I  don't  want 
money  and  I  do  want  work.    That  is  my  position. 

"  But  what  I  do  see  here  in  this  England  of  ours  is 
that  labour  is  dissociating  itself  from  work.  It  is  labour- 
ing all  day,  and  bringing  forth — as  little  as  it  can !  It 
claims  the  right  to  do  this  little.  Well !  let  it  if  it  likes ! 
But  why  should  it  deny  to  any  man  the  right  to  work  at 
the  rate  of  which  he  was  born  physically  capable  ?  Why 
should  it  make  a  swift  worker  take  eight  hours  to  do  what 
he  can  do  in  four  ?  If  I  were  to  put  any  one  of  you  on 
oath,  you  would  admit  that  it  is  far  harder  work  to 
dawdle  through  eight  hours  than  to  work  through  eight 
hours.  I've  seen  many  bricklayers,  painters,  plasterers 
lately  hard  put  to  it  how  to  eke  out  the  time,  and  yet 
preserve  an  air  of  occupation,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you 
have  most  of  you  felt  this.  Now,  think  what  this  means. 
It  is  labour,  hard  labour  \  this,  the  enslavement  of  free 
work.  Neither  body  nor  mind  gain  full  exercise,  muscles 
and  brain  decay,  the  type  goes  down.  But  this  is  the  sys- 
tem of  the  day ;  we  begin  it  in  school,  where  we  let  chil- 
dren dawdle  eleven  years  over  what  they  ought  to  learn 
in  half  the  time.  It  greets  the  boy  in  his  first  workshop — 
it  dogs  his  footsteps  everywhere,  turning  work  into  la- 
bour. Work  is — is  play !  Labour  is — is  the  Devil !  What 
beats  me  is  this.  Why,  instead  of  slaving  and  dawdling, 
shouldn't  the  good  workman,  classed  together,  of  course, 
be  allowed  to  work,  say,  four  hours,  and  then  go  their 
way?  It  would  give  us  some  chance  of  breeding  a  type 
of  Englishman  that  is  now  fast  dying  out,  that  soon  must 
pass  away  altogether.  Men !  don 't  be  fools !  Men !  don 't 
be  slaves. 

"  That  is  all  I  have  to  say.    Now  for  the  payment. 


290  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

This  is  a  free  deed  of  gift  of  these  works,  made  out,  with 
a  few  necessary  legal  restrictions,  in  the  name  of  you  del- 
egates, to  be  held  in  trust  for  the  workers  therein,  and 
this  is  a  cheque  for  the  capital  necessary  to  work  it  for 
six  months.  I  have  already  signed  both.  I  was  so  cer- 
tain, you  see,  that  your  friend  and  leader,  Mr.  Green, 
would  reject  my  other  very  reasonable  proposals  that  I 
came  prepared.  Will  you  take  them,  Mr.  Green?  My 
solicitor  is  here,  and  you  can  arrange  with  him :  my  part 
is  done!  " 

"  Am  I  to  understand "  almost  gasped  Mr.  Green. 

Lord  Blackborough 's  face  sharpened  to  the  keenest 
edge  of  contempt.  "  Yes!  You  are  to  understand,  sir, 
that,  tired  of  being  abused  up  hill  and  down  dale  in  your 
organs  for  behaving  like  a  sensible  man,  I  am  behaving 
like  a  fool.  Well,  men!  Labour  and  Capital  have  for 
once  met  and  kissed  each  other.  See  that  they  don't 
fall  out  again!  " 

Mr.  Green  stood  with  the  papers  in  his  hand  for  a  sec- 
ond then  he  flung  them  on  the  table. 

1 '  You  fling  our  own  money  to  us  as  if  we  were  dogs !  ' ' 
he  began  hotly. 

"  Dogs!  "  echoed  Ned  Blackborough  in  the  same  tone. 
1 '  I  would  far  liefer  give  it  to  the  dogs  than  to  you — you 
men  who  will  have  the  handling  of  it.  It  is  you  who 
starved  those  poor  children,  not  I.  Their  fathers  could 
keep  them  in  comfort  for  five-and-twenty  shillings  a 
week ;  you  made  them  stand  for  out  six-and-twenty — as  if 
it  mattered — as  if  money,  physical  comfort,  even  free- 
dom, counted  for  anything  in  a  man's  search  for  hap- 
piness.    That ."     He  pulled  himself  up  quivering, 

feeling  the  uselessness  of  speech.  "  Come,  Woods!  "  he 
said,  "  it  is  time  I  left  this  Temple  of  Mammon!  Good- 
day,  gentlemen." 

"  That  is  a  clear  waste  of  a  hundred  thousand 
pounds,"  mourned  Mr.  Woods  as  they  crossed  the  court- 
yard; "  you  can't  get  beyond  human  nature,  my  lord. 
Each  man  will  naturally  go  for  that  gold,  the  cleverest 
of  them  will  get  it,  and  so  capital  will  re-arise  out  of  its 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  291 

own  ashes.  You  must  begin  further  down — with  the 
children. ' ' 

"  Set  up  a  school,  eh?  Woods,  in  which  they  would 
be  taught  the  truth — that  work  and  play  are  merely  in- 
terchangeable terms  for  occupation.  Hullo!  What's 
up?  " 

A  small  crowd  of  women,  mostly  carrying  babies,  but 
a  few  of  them  carrying  baskets,  stood  at  the  gates  block- 
ing the  way.  Beyond  them  waited  the  motor-car,  the 
chauffeur  standing  at  the  crank  ready  to  start. 

Ned  Blackborough  walked  on  until  he  nearly  touched 
the  first  woman.  She  was  better  dressed  than  the  rest, 
but  who  for  all  that  had  a  coarse,  violent  face. 

"  Do  you  want  anything?  "  he  asked  quietly.  "  If 
you  don 't,  you  might  let  me  pass. ' ' 

"Do  we  want!  "  she  began  in  a  rhetorical  voice. 
* '  Yes !  we  want  the  bread  you  have  stole  from  our  chil- 
dren. " 

"  Why  not  give  them  some  of  your  husband's  din- 
ner? "  he  replied,  pointing  to  her  basket,  on  the  top  of 
which  lay  several  knives  and  forks.  There  was  a  tit- 
ter, for  she  was,  in  truth,  carrying  refreshment  for  Mr. 
Green  and  his  colleagues.    She  flushed  scarlet. 

' '  My  husband !  "  she  echoed.  ' '  Yes !  where  is  the 
money  you  have  stole  from  our  husbands?  But  you'll 
find  that  we  aren't  slaves  like  the  ones  you  drove  in  the 
Indies  before  you  were  kicked  out !  The  British  work- 
people are  not  to  be  treated  like  black  niggers  or  Chinese 
coolies. ' ' 

"  Good  God!  woman,"  cried  Ned,  losing  patience,  "  if 
you  have  nothing  better  to  say  than  to  trump  up  the 
last  scurrilous  article  in  the  Taskmaster — Here!  Woods, 
follow  on — I  'm  not  going  to  be  stopped. ' ' 

In  an  instant  they  were  the  centre  of  a  band  of  ex- 
cited women,  the  next  they  were  in  the  car,  and  the 
chauffeur  was  running  back  to  take  his  seat. 

"  I  don't  want  to  hurt  you,"  called  Ned  as  he  turned 
on  power,  "  but  if  some  of  you  don't  stand  back  there 
will  be  an  accident !  ' ' 


292  &■   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

"  Cowards!  Fools!  Don't  let  him  go  without  an  an- 
swer, ' '  shrieked  the  woman  with  the  basket,  who  was  en- 
tangled two  deep  in  the  backward  rush.  The  next  mo- 
ment there  very  nearly  ivas  an  accident,  since,  failing  of 
all  else,  the  angry  orator  flung  the  first  thing  she  could 
lay  her  hands  upon — the  handful  of  knives  and  forks — 
at  the  car  with  her  full  force,  and  one  of  the  missiles,  a 
three-pronged  iron  fork,  buried  itself  in  the  fleshy  part 
of  Ned's  right  hand,  as  it  held  the  steerer,  making  him 
and  it  swerve. 

The  fork  quivered  as  he  steadied  the  wheel.  Then  he 
turned  and  raised  his  hat  with  his  other  hand. 

1 '  Thank  you !  "  he  said,  and  the  word  fell  on  a  half  - 
awed,  half-alarmed  silence. 

"  She  didn't  mean  to  do  it,"  began  Woods  hurriedly. 
"  Shall  I  pull  it  out,  my  lord?  " 

"  Of  course  she  didn't,"  replied  Ned  coolly.  "  If  she 
had  meant  to  do  it,  she  would  have  killed  a  baby.  That 
sort  of  woman  is  built  that  way.  Wait  a  bit,  Woods, 
till  we  are  through  the  works.  I  look  like  a  blessed  St. 
Sebastian  with  it  quivering  in  my  flesh !  ' ' 

"  You  ought  to  have  that  seen  to,"  said  little  Woods 
when  the  surgical  operation  was  over,  and  they  had  had 
to  call  on  the  chauffeur's  handkerchief  as  well  as  their 
own.    "  It  has  gone  very  deep." 

"I'll  get  Ramsay  to  tie  it  up  properly.  We  can  go 
back  by  Egworth, ' '  replied  Lord  Blackborough. 

They  met  Peter  Ramsay  on  the  steps,  carrying  a  leath- 
ern instrument-bag. 

' '  Come  along  to  my  room, ' '  he  said  cheerfully.  "  I've 
everything  I  want  in  here." 

As  they  opened  the  door  a  woman's  figure  rose  hur- 
riedly from  an  evidently  searching  inquiry  into  the  con- 
tents of  a  bottom  drawer,  for  under- vests  and  stockings 
lay  strewn  about. 

Both  Helen  Tressilian  and  Dr.  Ramsay  blushed  scarlet, 
but  Ned's  eyes  twinkled.  "  Caught  in  the  act,  my  dear! 
Caught  in  the  act !  "  he  said  amusedly. 

I  thought — I  hoped — he  had  gone  out  for  a  long 


i  i 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  293 

while  on  an  urgent  call,"  retorted  Mrs.  Tressilian,  look- 
ing quite  viciously  at  the  doctor,  who,  to  hide  his  vexa- 
tion, was  searching  in  his  bag. 

"I  am  sorry  I  disappointed  your  expectations,  Mrs. 
Tressilian,"  he  said  stiffly,  "  but  when  I  arrived  I  was 
not  wanted.    The  man  was  dead. ' ' 

Helen  looked  as  if  she  had  received  a  blow  in  the  face. 
Her  lip  quivered. 

"  Undo  these  rags,  will  you?  "  said  Ned  to  her  kindly, 
wishing  in  his  heart  that  he  could  take  them  and  shake 
them  together  once  and  for  all.  "  I  haven't  much  time 
to  lose." 

She  had  forgotten  her  annoyance  in  sympathy  when 
Dr.  Ramsay  looked  up  from  his  task. 

"I'm  afraid  I  shall  have  to  hurt  you  a  bit.  I  don't 
like  those  very  deep  holes,  possibly  from  a  dirty 
fork " 

"  It  wasn't  very  clean,"  admitted  Ned. 

"  Perhaps  I  had  better  call  Sister  Ann "  began 

the  doctor  doubtfully,  and  Helen  flushed  up  in  a  second. 

"  I  have  done  some  work  of  the  kind,  Dr.  Ramsay," 
she  said;  "  but  if  you  prefer " 

The  challenge  was  too  direct.  "  If  you  do  not  mind, 
I  shall  be  glad, ' '  he  replied,  bending  over  a  little  array  of 
instruments  on  the  table.  "  Will  you  stand  here,  Lord 
Blackborough.  Hold  the  hand  so,  Nurse  Helen,  and  be 
ready,  please,  with  the  carbolised  gauze." 

Half-way  through  Ned  winced;  and  the  doctor  said 
sharply,  ' '  That  was  my  fault.  Move  your  hand  a  little, 
Nurse  Helen ;  it  gets  in  my  way. ' ' 

"  There!  that's  done!  "  he  continued  at  last.  "  Now 
for  the  bandages." 

Was  it  only  fancy,  or  was  Ned  Blackborough  right  in 
thinking  that  the  supple,  skilful  hands  were  not  quite  so 
skilful  as  usual,  that  there  was  an  unwonted  nervousness 
about  them  ? 

He  pondered  over  this  as,  being  hurried,  he  went  down- 
stairs, leaving  Helen  tidying  up,  Peter  Ramsay  sterilising 
his  instruments  before  putting  them  away.    He  left  be- 


294  ^   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

hind  him  also  a  sense  of  stress  in  the  air,  a  feeling  on  the 
part  of  both  those  busy  people  that  things  could  no  longer 
go  on  as  they  had  been  going  on.  Suddenly  Peter  Ram- 
say flung  aside  a  probe,  and  walked  up  to  Helen  deci- 
sively. 

' '  Helen !  ' '  he  said.  ' l  I  shall  have  to  go  away  if  you 
won 't  marry  me.  Think  me  as  much  a  fool  as  you  like — 
the  fact  remains.  You  saw — you  must  have  seen  how  dis- 
gracefully I  did  that  simple  little  thing.  Why?  Be- 
cause you  were  there — because  your  hand  touched  mine. ' ' 

"  I  will  never  offer  to  interfere  with  your  work 
again !  ' '  she  said  coldly. 

1 '  Interfere !  ' '  he  echoed  with  a  bitter  little  laugh. 
*  '  You  always  interfere !  I  feel  the  very  touch  of  your 
hands  upon  my  clothes. ' ' 

A  slow  crimson  stained  her  very  forehead.  "  I  am 
sorry,  I  will  never  touch  them  again." 

"  That  will  do  no  good,"  he  replied  gloomily.  "  Can 
you  not  see  that  your  influence  touches  my  life  at  every 
point?  When  I  go  through  the  wards  I  hear  you  have 
just  passed,  I  almost  see  the  flutter  of  your  dress.  I 
am  always  reminded,  I  am  always  thinking  of  you.  If 
you  will  not  marry  me,  I  must  go  away. ' ' 

"  I  cannot  marry  you,  and  I  have  told  you  why.  It 
is  not  as  though  I  did  not  know  what  love  meant.  I  have 
known  it,  and — and  I  do  not  know  it  now.  But  you  need 
not  go  away.    I  will  go." 

1 '  That,  you  shall  not  do, ' '  he  replied,  his  chin  setting 
itself  long  and  stern.  "  Besides  it  would  be  no  good. 
This  place  is  redolent  of  you — your  goodness,  your  sweet- 
ness. Oh!  Helen,  Helen!  If  you  will  only  marry  me, 
love  will  come — for  you  like  me — I  don't  believe  there 
is  any  one  you  like  better — except  perhaps  Ned  Black- 
borough.  ' ' 

"  Ned!  "  she  echoed,  glad  of  evasion,  "  poor  Ned!  I 
have  had  such  a  curious  feeling  lately  that  he  is  in  some 
way  maimed;  and  yet  not  maimed.  I  don't  know  how 
to  express  it,  but  he  seems  to  me  to  be  using  his  soul  more 
and  his  body  less." 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  295 

"  I  wish  I  could  get  rid  of  my  body,"  muttered  Dr. 
Ramsay  so  quaintly  that  Helen  perforce  had  to  smile; 
whereat,  he  said  aggrievedly,  "  It  isn't  all  that  either, 
Mrs.  Tressilian ;  love ' ' 

She  checked  him  with  a  soft  sympathising  hand.  ' '  Do 
I  not  know  what  love  is?  Dr.  Ramsay!  I  cannot  pity 
you." 

"  Then  I  shall  have  to  go,"  he  said  obstinately.  "  I 
will  not  have  my  work  spoiled  by  any  woman. ' ' 

She  felt  small  somehow ;  a  trine  remorseful  perhaps  as 
she  left  the  room.  He  certainly  had  been  rather  dejected 
of  late  and  it  was  such  a  pity. 

And  Ned  also!  He  was  not  dejected,  but  he  was 
changed,  curiously  changed. 

In  truth  the  past  six  weeks,  since  the  night  when  he 
had  outwatched  the  stars,  to  be  met  in  the  dawn  by  the 
mischance  of  a  confidence  not  intended  for  his  ears,  had 
changed  him  a  great  deal.  He  had  not  seen  Aura  since. 
He  had  purposely  left  New  Park,  before  she  was  well 
enough  to  receive  visitors,  and  had  only  returned  to  it 
after  she  had  been  moved  for  a  freshening  up  at  the  sea- 
side. But  he  had  heard  of  her  constantly  from  Ted,  who, 
after  two  or  three  days  of  intense  anxiety,  had  gone  back 
to  business  with  renewed  zest.  This  time  interruption 
had  apparently  been  beneficial ;  at  least  the  first  few  days 
of  Aura's  convalescence  and  disappointment  had  been 
cheered  by  him  with  the  most  sanguine  of  outlooks  on  the 
future.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that,  perhaps  after 
all,  things  were  best  as  they  were.  They  would  move 
into  a  still  better  house,  and  be  able  to  set  up  properly 
before  taking  upon  themselves  the  responsibilities  of  life. 

Aura  had  said  "  Perhaps,"  and  after  he  had  gone  had 
lain  and  cried  softly  to  herself.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
wide  world  so  sacred  to  a  woman  as  her  grief  for  the 
child  which  has  died  to  save  her  life.  It  is  grief  of 
the  most  inward  type,  unknown,  unrecognised  by  others, 
which  lasts  through  the  years  and  grows  no  slighter  than 
it  was  when  in  the  dim,  between  life  and  death,  she  first 
learns  that  her  child  has  paid  the  ransom  for  her. 


296  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

In  a  way,  therefore,  the  doubt,  which  by  degrees  grew 
into  a  certainty,  that  Fate  had  denied  motherhood  to  her, 
had  at  first  almost  brought  her  comfort. 

If  there  was  no  probability  of  her  being  more  fortunate 
in  the  future,  happiness  neither  awaited  her,  nor  could 
there  be  any  rivalry  between  the  dead  child  and  a  liv- 
ing one.  There  was  a  tragedy  in  both  lives,  not  only  in 
the  one. 

Such  thoughts  as  these,  aided  by  the  very  intensity  of 
her  grief,  kept  her  going  until  she  began  to  face  the  world 
again  at  the  sea-side.  Then  came  one  of  those  fiery  fur- 
naces of  the  soul  through  which  so  few  pass  unscathed. 
She  used  to  wander  down  at  the  ebb  low  tide,  past  the 
groups  of  children  building  castles  in  the  sand,  past  the 
uttermost  outermost  little  waving  fringe  of  sea-spoil  left, 
but  for  a  brief  half  hour,  by  the  regretful  retreat  of 
the  waves,  and  gaze  out  over  the  long,  low  sand-banks, 
claimed  as  their  own  by  clouds  of  fluttering,  settling, 
fluttering  seagulls. 

The  tide  had  truly  ebbed — the  mud-flats  of  life  lay 
bare.  Her  thoughts  were  like  the  gulls,  never  still  for 
a  second.  Only  in  the  slack  tide  of  the  estuary  there  was 
rest  for  a  moment,  and  the  long,  brown  arms  of  the  sea- 
weed waved  sleepily,  seeming  to  call  her  to  rest  with 
them. 

So  she  would  go  back  again  to  her  lodgings,  but  in 
the  night  time  she  would  rise  and  draw  up  her  blind  and 
look  out. 

And  lo !  the  tide  was  up  again,  the  sea  lay  like  a  sheet 
of  silver  and  there  was  no  more  land,  neither  was  there 
any  sound  of  tears. 

Thus,  after  a  time,  she  came  back  to  the  new  house 
on  which  Ted,  during  her  absence,  had  been  lavishing 
enough  money,  he  felt,  to  prove  his  undying  affection 
twice  over.  He  was  quite  full  of  its  many  advantages 
when  she  finally  arrived  there.  For  one  thing,  they 
would  be  able  to  entertain  in  it;  and  entertainments 
would  be  a  great  feature  in  his  coming  life.  One  of  the 
chief  reasons  for  Mr.  Hirsch  's  enormous  success  had  been 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  297 

his  genius  for  giving  recherche  dinners.  Ted  could  not 
hope  to  rival  him;  still  with  the  cordon  bleue's  help- 
here  he  became  exceedingly  affectionate — much  was  pos- 
sible. They  must  certainly  entertain  Mr.  Hirsch  and  his 
daughter.  Oh  yes !  had  not  Aura  heard  of  the  daughter  ? 
Mr.  Hirsch  had  imported  her  ready-made,  grown-up — 
really  a  very  nice-looking  girl — from  Berlin?  She  was 
about  twenty,  and  no  one  had  had  any  idea  Hirsch  was  a 
widower ;  but  he  seemed  devoted  to  the  girl,  and  to  have 
given  up  the  search  for  a  wife  which  had  been  his  pur- 
suit for  years. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  being,  though  Ted  did  not  know 
it,  that,  having  failed  once  more  in  his  endeavours  to 
marry  a  well-connected  Englishwoman,  Mr.  Hirsch  had 
fallen  back  on  a  less  legal  establishment  of  his  youth  for 
which  he  had  always  paid  with  scrupulous  honour. 
Hence  Miss  Hirsch  who,  being  a  goodnatured  creature 
like  her  father,  bid  fair  to  fill  up  his  affections  and  give 
him  the  home  for  which,  as  he  grew  older,  he  was  begin- 
ning to  yearn. 

Anyhow  Mr.  and  Miss  Hirsch  would  have  to  be  enter- 
tained when  they  came  to  Blackborough,  and  Aura  should 
have  the  long  talked-of  pink  satin  gown  in  which  to  re- 
ceive them.  It  might  even  be  possible  to  put  them  up. 
There  were  two  good  rooms  on  the  first  floor  which  would 
not  be  wanted  yet  awhile.  Aura  might  see  them  after 
she  had  had  her  tea. 

"  Thanks,  Ted,"  she  replied  hurriedly,  "  but— but  per- 
haps I've  done  enough  for  to-day.  I  can  see  them  to- 
morrow. " 

Just  those  few  minutes  of  facing  the  new  house,  the 
new  life  had  wearied  her  absolutely.  And  she  had  other 
things  to  face  in  the  near  future.  Sooner  or  later  she 
felt  that  she  ought  to  tell  her  husband  that  those  rooms 
would  never  in  all  human  probability  be  wanted. 

But  she  could  not  tell  him  now.  That  was  beyond  her 
strength. 


CHAPTER    XXV 

"  Mrs.  Edward  Cruttenden  requests  the  pleasure  of 
Lord  Blackborough's  company  at  dinner." 

It  was  a  printed  card,  and  Ned  Blackborough  laid  it 
down  on  the  table,  feeling  that  the  world  was  getting 
beyond  him. 

This  was  about  a  week  or  so  after  Aura 's  return,  and 
he  had  intended  to  call  on  her  that  very  afternoon.  Now 
he  refrained. 

' '  I  am  so  sorry  we  had  to  give  you  such  short  notice, ' ' 
said  Ted,  whom  he  met  in  the  street  next  day,  "  but  the 
Hirschs  were  coming  down  unexpectedly  and  it  had  to 
be  hurried.    I  hope  you  can  come." 

"  Oh !  I  am  coming  all  right, ' '  said  Ned  a  trifle  surlily. 
"  I  hope  it  won't  be  too  much  for  Aura." 

Ted  looked  at  him  with  immense  surprise.  ' '  My  dear 
fellow !  Aura  is  as  well  as  she  can  be,  and  awfully  inter- 
ested in  it.  Well!  I'm  glad  you  can  come.  You'll  like 
Miss  Hirsch,  she 's  charming,  so  fresh  and  gay. ' ' 

It  was  a  real  parlourmaid  who  announced  Lord  Black- 
borough  this  time,  and  he  saw  a  furtive  green-grocer  in 
the  background ;  otherwise  the  house  seemed  to  him  much 
the  same,  only  larger,  more  pretentious.  The  drawing- 
room  was  distinctly  more — what  was  the  word?  chaste. 
Yes !  distinctly  more  chaste.  It  was  white  and  gold,  and 
was  that  Aura  in  a  pink  satin  dress— ye  heavens  above ! 
in  pink  satin !  She  did  not  look  ill,  but  as  their  eyes  met 
he  was  conscious  of  a  distinct  shock.  There  was  some- 
thing wanting  in  them,  the  best  part  of  her  was  not  there. 

Where  was  it  ? 

The  question  absorbed  him  even  while  he  was  being 
presented  to  Miss  Hirsch,  a  jolly,  handsome,  rather  stout 

298 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  299 

girl,  also — as  the  fates  would  have  it — in  pink  satin. 
But  she  was  literally  ablaze  with  diamonds. 

' '  Aha !  my  old  friend  Blackborough !  ' '  laughed  Mr. 
Hirsch  explosively,  "  this  is  good  sight  for  sore  eyes. 
Make  me  your  compliments  for  my  daughter,  sir. ' ' 

"  I  prefer  to  make  them  to  Miss  Hirsch  herself,"  re- 
plied Ned  gallantly,  and  then  they  went  in  to  dinner. 

It  was  an  excellent  repast.  Ted  had  evidently  pursued 
the  only  course  consonant  with  success.  He  had  ordered 
it  direct  from  Benoist  's  and  kept  the  minions  of  the  great 
caterer  out  of  evidence.  Iced  mellon  gave  place  to  con- 
somme biscuit,  truite  a\  Vaurore  to  filets  financieres, 
poularde  casserole  to  something  else,  until  at  the  end  the 
conversation  became  interspersed  with  cigarettes  and 
coffee. 

It  was  an  enormous  success;  and  all  the  time  Ned 
Blackborough  was  wondering  what  had  become  of  Aura, 
whither  she  had  gone.  Only  once  did  he  get  a  glimpse 
of  what  he  had  known  in  the  past,  and  that  was  when, 
after  Miss  Hirsch  had  sung  like  a  second-class  profes- 
sional (in  other  words  like  her  mother)  to  his  accom- 
paniment, he  had  asked  Aura  if  he  might  not  accompany 
her  also. 

"  My  dear  Blackborough, ' '  Ted  had  exclaimed,  "  after 
such  singing  as  Miss  Hirsch  has  just  given  us,  I'm  sure 
my  wife  would  hardly  like " 

"  But  I  should  like,"  he  had  interrupted  imperturb- 
ably. 

Then  it  was  that  Aura  had  said  swiftly  in  an  under- 
tone— 

"  Please  don't." 

He  had  obeyed,  as  he  had  obeyed  the  same  order  once 
before.  But  *  that  night  he  sat  up  again  and  drank 
whisky  and  water  and  smoked  opium-sodden  cigarettes, 
and  the  next  day  he  went  down  to  call,  for  he  did  not 
intend  that  sort  of  thing  should  go  on. 

She  did  not  intend  it  should  either.  He  found  her  in 
the  back  garden,  which  was  really  quite  of  a  decent  size, 
busy  planting  something  between  the  prim  privets,  and 


300  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

eunonyms  and  variegated  hollies  which,  even  in  this  late 
autumn,  gave  the  wall-surrounding  shrubbery  a  sem- 
blance of  green. 

"  Do  you  know  what  I  am  planting?  "  she  asked 
frankly.    "  I  am  planting  some  iris  alata." 

He  narrowed  his  eyes  and  looked  at  her. 

"  Hardly  in  the  most  beautiful  place  in  the  world/ ' 
he  said  cynically. 

"  That  won't  make  them  any  the  less  beautiful,"  she 
replied  and  then  suddenly  her  whole  face  melted,  her 
eyes  shone  with  tears,  with  smiles,  with  happiness,  re- 
grets, with  fair  passions  and  bountiful  pities  and  love 
without  stain.  ' '  Oh,  Ned !  Ned  !  "  she  cried,  holding 
out  her  hand  to  him  again.  ' '  I  have  to  beg  your  pardon 
for  so  much — I  have  to  thank  you  for  so  much — which 
shall  I  do  first?  " 

What  could  he  do  save  take  her  hand  as  frankly  as  it 
was  given  and  say  "  Neither."  Since  between  them  he 
knew  there  was  no  possibility  of  gratitude,  no  possibility 
of  forgiveness. 

So  they  began  to  talk,  not  of  her  illness  or  of  these  later 
days  at  all,  but  of  Cwmfaernog,  and  Plas  Afon,  and  how 
she  had  found  the  snake-stone  under  the  old  yew-tree. 

' '  I  always  wear  it,  you  know,  at  least  I  do  nowadays, ' ' 
she  said,  and  drawing  up  her  loose  sleeve  showed  it  to 
him  worn  as  an  amulet,  warm  against  the  fair  whiteness 
of  her  skin.  His  heart  gave  a  throb.  For  all  her  courage 
then,  she  was  not  happy.  Such  trifles  tell  of  a  search  for 
support. 

Then  Ted  came  in,  breezy  and  full  of  life.  It  had  been 
a  success  last  night,  had  it  not  1  The  pink  satin  had  not 
suited  Aura  quite  so  well  as  he  had  hoped;  not  so  well 
as  it  had  suited  Miss  Hirsch,  who  had  looked  ripping. 
Perhaps  it  ought  to  have  been  blue.  Or  perhaps  it  was 
the  diamonds  that  did  the  trick.  Had  any  one  ever  seen 
better  diamonds  than  Miss  Hirsch 's? 

Anyhow,  it  had  been  a  great  success,  and  they  must 
give  some  more  dinner-parties  and  get  into  the  way  of 
entertaining. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  301 

Aura  might  ask  Mrs.  Tressilian  and  Dr.  Ramsay  as  a 
beginning. 

"  You  won't  get  Ramsay,"  remarked  Ned  Black- 
borough  ;  ' '  he  is  away  in  Vienna.  He  has  taken  three 
months'  leave,  but  he  put  in  a  very  good  man  for  the 
time." 

In  truth,  St.  Helena's  Hospital  was,  as  Peter  Ramsay 
had  declared  it  would,  getting  on  quite  as  well  without 
him  as  it  did  with  him.  The  only  person  who  was  dis- 
satisfied with  the  new  state  of  affairs  was  Helen  Tres- 
silian, and  she  was  frankly  in  a  very  bad  temper  both 
with  him  and  with  herself.  It  was  so  foolish  of  him. 
Had  she  not  known  it  would  be  absolutely  useless  she 
would  have  sent  in  her  own  resignation,  but  what  good 
would  it  have  done?  It  would  only  have  made  matters 
worse,  since  he  would  never  return  if  she  went.  All 
she  could  do  was  to  hope  very  sincerely  that  the  three 
months'  change  would  effect  its  object,  and  that  he  would 
forget  her. 

And  yet  even  this  did  not  quite  soothe  her  irritation, 
even  this  was  not  quite  what  she  wanted. 

What  did  she  want  ?  She  was  taking  herself  severely 
to  task  one  afternoon  when  Sister  Ann  came  in  looking 
grave. 

1 '  I  have  just  had  a  letter  with  some  rather  bad  news 
in  it,"  she  said.  "  I  hope  it  isn't  true,  but  it  sounds 
serious.  It  is  from  my  friend  who  I  told  you  had  gone 
to  study  at  Vienna." 

Helen's  heart  leapt  to  her  mouth.  "  Well?  "  she  said 
impatiently,  wondering  the  while  with  a  sudden  feeling 
of  dread  why  she  should  feel  so  disturbed. 

"  I'll  read  you  what  he  says.  '  We  are  all  a  bit  down- 
hearted just  now  because  Ramsay,  who  is  one  of  the  nicest 
fellows  who  ever  lived,  is  ill  with  pyaemia.  It  would  be 
a  thousand  pities  if  he  were  to  go  out,  for  he  is  quite  the 
best  operator  here.  Of  course  he  is  being  well  looked 
after,  but  it  must  be  awful  away  from  all  one's  friends.'  " 

Helen  went  deadly  white.  '  '  Do  you  think  it  is  true  ?  ' ' 
she  asked  almost  helplessly. 


302 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


Sister  Ann  re-folded  the  letter  methodically.  "  It 
must  be  true,  of  course,  and  it  is  not  unlikely.  You 
know  he  was  always  a  trifle  reckless  when  there  was 
anything  to  be  done  even  here.  One  can  only  hope  he  is 
not  so  very  bad.    You  will  send  a  wire,  I  suppose?  ,: 

"  Yes,"  replied  Helen.  "  Of  course  we  will  send  a 
wire — and — yes.    I  will  send  a  wire,  I  think. ' ' 

"  It  is  terribly  sad,"  said  Sister  Ann,  for  all  her  in- 
variable cheerfulness,  quite  mournfully.  "Apart  from 
his  immense  value  to  the  world,  he  was  such  a  dear  soul 
in  so  many  ways.  I  have  often  thought  what  an  ex- 
cellent husband  and  father  he  would  have  made." 

After  she  had  gone,  to  tell  the  news  presumably  in 
that  even  tone  of  voice,  Helen  thought  with  a  rush  of 
resentment,  the  latter  sat  in  a  perfect  tumult  of  emotion. 
Anger,  pity,  regret  all  fought  for  first  place.  What 
right,  for  instance,  had  Sister  Ann  to  use  the  past  tense 
in  speaking  of  Dr.  Ramsay?    He  was  not  dead. 

Dead? 

Impossible,  incredible!  It  could  not,  it  must  not  be 
true! 

But  what  good  would  a  wire  be  to  a  man  lying  per- 
haps unconscious,  at  any  rate  alone  ? 

She  stood  up  pushing  her  hair  back  from  her  forehead. 
A  great  wave  of  pity  for  him,  but  more  for  herself,  over- 
came her;  she  stared  out  of  the  room  scarcely  seeing 
what  was  before  her. 

Just  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  a  long  pier 
glass  filled  up  the  space  between  the  two  tall  windows.  It 
was  growing  dusk,  and  the  mirror  showed  dark  and 
empty  looking  against  the  light.  No,  not  quite  empty, 
there  was  a  figure  in  it  going  away  from  her  into  the 
darkness.  It  was  the  figure  of  a  man  making  haste.  It 
hurried  on,  its  back  towards  her,  down  an  interminable 
pathway  that  was  lost  in  the  shadows.  It  was  going,  oh, 
so  fast !  And  she  recognized  it.  It  was  Peter  Ramsay  as 
she  had  last  seen  him  hurrying  away  to  catch  his  train. 
It  grew  smaller  and  smaller,  it  overtook  the  shadows, 
they  gathered  it  in. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  303 

' '  No !  no !  ' '  she  cried  aloud.    ' '  Don 't  go— don 't  go !  ' ' 

Was  there  a  pause?  She  could  not  tell.  The  vision 
vanished,  and  she  was  left  to  the  knowledge  that  she  had 
once  more  almost  over-stepped  the  bounds  of  the  unseen, 
and  to  a  dim  sense  of  something  unsuspected  in  herself. 

One  thing  was  certain.  He  must  not  go,  thinking  she 
cared  not  at  all.  How  many  hours  was  it  to  Vienna? 
That  mattered  very  little  if  she  started  as  quickly  as  she 
could.    She  must  get  there  sooner  or  later. 

Half  an  hour  afterwards  she  was  at  the  station,  and  by 
midnight  she  was  standing  looking  out  at  the  stars  from 
the  deck  of  a  Channel  steamer  with  the  lights  of  Calais 
ahead  of  her.  She  did  not  regret  her  impulse,  all  she 
thought  of  was  that  somehow  that  figure  she  had  seen 
losing  itself  in  the  shadows  must  be  stopped,  must  be 
brought  back  to  the  light. 

It  was  a  wearisome  journey.  She  had  left  without  due 
preparation,  she  was  all  unused  to  foreign  travelling,  and 
she  did  not  care  to  forage  for  food  for  fear  she  might  be 
left  behind. 

So  it  was  rather  a  dejected  Helen  Tressilian  who  got 
out  in  the  struggling  daylight  of  a  November  day  at  the 
Haupt  Bahnhof,  and,  after  a  while,  found  herself  driv- 
ing, she  literally  knew  not  whither,  through  wide  streets 
and  narrow  streets  to  the  public  hospital.  It  was  there, 
she  knew,  that  Peter  Ramsay  was  working,  so  there  she 
hoped  to  have  news  of  him  at  once.  But  she  had  reck- 
oned without  the  formalism  of  German  institutions.  At 
first  she  could  hardly  elicit  the  fact  that  there  was  such  a 
person  as  a  Scotch  physician  by  name  Ramsay  in  Vienna, 
for  she  had  called  him  English,  and  that  error,  a  grave 
one  to  the  foreigner,  had  seemed  to  discredit  her  alto- 
gether. 

Then  who  was  she?  Sister  or  mother?  If  not,  what 
claim  had  she  to  be  admitted  to  the  bedside  of  the  ' '  dan- 
gerously-sick un-friend-recognising  patient?  ':  She  had 
better  see  the  Chief -Head-Over-Superintendent,  and  if 
he  consented,  perhaps ! 

So  she  drove  off  again  disheartened.    The  Chief -Head- 


304 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


Over-Superintendent  was  out,  and  after  waiting  for  him 
till  she  grew  sick  and  cold  she  determined  to  follow  him 
to  the  Medical  College.  Here  she  was  met  by  more  formal- 
ities, to  which  was  added  a  suggestion  that,  not  being  a 
relation,  she  should  go  to  the  British  consulate  and  get 
a  certificate  that  she  was  of  the  ' '  due-respectable-and-to- 
be-admitted-f  riends. ' ' 

And  then,  suddenly,  to  her  despair  at  the  delay,  came 
the  memory  of  Pagenheim.  It  was  silly  of  her  not  to  have 
thought  of  him  before.  Yes.  She  would  go  to  Pagen- 
heim ;  he  was  her  only  hope. 

She  was  shown  into  a  room  stuffed  full  of  furniture, 
where  a  florid,  bearded  man  had  evidently  just  been 
smoking. 

He  sat  looking  with  immense  interest  at  the  card  she 
had  sent  in. 

1 '  Mein  Gott !  "  he  said,  going  on  in  fairly  idiomatic 
English.     ' '  But  your  names !     T  r  e  s  -  s  i  1 " 

"  Tressilian,"  said  Helen  impatiently. 

"  Tres-silian!  Now,  Miss,  what  does  that  mean? 
Tre — three — sil-i-an.  Does  it  mean  three  fools?  Wass 
fur  ein — Gott  in  Himmel!  you  are  crying — Gnadige 
Fraulein,  pardon." 

It  was  the  truth.  Helen,  worn  out  by  her  long  and 
hungry  journey,  disappointed,  driven  from  pillar  to  post, 
had  found  it  too  much  that  her  last  hope  should  waste 
precious  time  in  philological  studies. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  she  said,  stifling  her  tears, 
"but  I  have  come  all  the  way  from  England  to  see  Dr. 
Ramsay,  and  now  I  cannot  get  at  him.  Do  help  me  if 
you  can." 

Dr.  Pagenheim  blew  out  his  cheeks  as  if  a  pipe  might 
have  been  a  consolation  to  him.  ' '  Soh !  You— you  can- 
not be  his  mother — you — you  are  his  sister,  doubtless  ?  ' ' 

Helen,  behind  her  handkerchief,  shook  her  head.  "  I 
—I  am  a  nurse,"  she  said  faintly,  "  and  I  have  come  on 
purpose- 


But,  gnadige  Fraulein,"  interposed  the  great  man, 
becoming  professional,  "he  is  already  nursed,  nursed 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  305 

devotedly.  There  is  no  place  for  you  I  fear.  It  is  against 
the  rules.    If  you  were  a  relation  it  were  different. ' ' 

Helen  looked  up  at  him,  goaded  to  desperation. 

"  But — but  I  am  more  than  that,  Dr.  Pagenheim,,, 
she  said.    "  I — I  am  engaged  to  be  married  to  him." 

The  blond,  florid  face  melted  into  instant  sentiment, 
the  tongue  into  German. 

"Soh!  Oh  Love!  Love!  What  dost  thou  not?  So 
he  is  betrothed  and  we  knew  it  not  ?  Stay !  is  your  name 
Helen?  " 

' '  Yes.    Helen  Tressilian, ' '  she  replied. 

11  Liebes  Kind!  "  cried  the  great  professsor.  "  He  has 
in  his  delirium  called  for  you  by  name.  Dry  your  tears, 
we  will  mend  him  for  you  surely.  Helen!  Ach!  that  is 
an  all-powerful,  love-compelling  name-of-uttermost  vic- 
tory, so  have  no  fear.  You  shall  to  him  go  so  soon  as  I 
can  get  on  my  boots. ' '  He  stuck  out  a  big  slippered  foot 
in  explanation  and  encouragement  as  he  beamed  on 
her. 

"  If  I  might  have  a  glass  of  milk,"  Helen  felt  em- 
boldened to  say.    "  I  haven't  had  time,  somehow " 

"  Gott  in  Himmel!  She  is  hungry,"  roared  the  pro- 
fessor. '  *  Oh,  Love  !  Love  !  what  dost  thou  not  ?  Greta, ' ' 
this  to  the  elderly  servant  who  answered  his  furious 
ringing.  "  Milk,  food,  drink,  everything  for  this  gra- 
cious-betrothed-one while  I  put  on  my  boots. ' ' 

Fortified  by  hot  coffee  and  a  roll,  Helen,  being  whirled 
through  the  streets  of  Vienna  in  the  doctor's  coupe,  felt 
that,  come  what  might,  she  did  not  repent  her  hasty  im- 
pulse.   Even  if  Peter  Ramsay  lived. 

"  Thou  must  remember,  liebes  kind,"  came  the  pro- 
fessor's jovial  voice  all  softened  to  warning,  "  he  is  very 
ill ;  only  the  good  God  knows  how  ill.  But  we  are  doing 
our  best  for  him.  The  high  fever  has  gone,  but  the 
weakness  remains.    You  must  be  very  quiet. 

"  I  am  a  nurse,"  she  said,  "  I  know."  In  a  way  it 
was  only  as  a  nurse  that  she  had  come,  only  because  she 
could  not  bear  to  think  of  him  dying  alone. 

It  seemed  an  interminable  age  that  she  sat  in  the  coupe 


306  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

while  Dr.  Pagenheim  was  preparing  the  hospital  author- 
ities. It  was  quite  a  small  place,  almost  private :  a  place 
reserved  by  the  doctors  for  their  most  serious  cases.  It 
had  a  conventional  air,  and  Helen  as  she  sat  could  see  a 
sister  of  charity  or  two,  with  large  white-winged  caps, 
moving  about.  Would  they  let  her  in?  Surely  Dr. 
Pagenheim  was  powerful  enough  for  that.  He  came 
back  after  a  time  with  the  matron,  a  severe  looking  sister, 
with  a  weary  face.  He  was  much  graver.  "  You  can 
see  him,  and,  if  you  are  quiet,  you  can  remain ;  but  he 
will  not  know  you." 

Did  he  not?  As  she  entered  the  wide,  white  ward, 
empty  save  for  the  bed  set  in  the  middle,  the  low,  hurried 
muttering  from  the  figure  which  lay  on  it  ceased  for  a 
moment.  It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  mutterer  was  listen- 
ing. Then  he  began  again,  too  low  to  be  intelligible  even 
to  the  English  ears  which  bent  over  to  listen.  The  nurses, 
two  fair,  simple-faced  sisters,  looked  at  her  with  kindly 
compassion  and  curiosity. 

"  He  is  so  restless,"  said  one,  speaking  in  the  low,  even 
sing-song  which  so  many  nurses  acquire  as  a  kind  of 
whisper.  "  If  he  could  only  sleep ;  but  we  dare  not  give 
drugs,  his  heart  is  so  weak. ' ' 

His  right  hand,  all  bandaged  up  to  the  elbow,  lay  slung 
in  a  shifting  cradle  just  above  the  bed-clothes,  his  left, 
the  fingers  closing  and  unclosing  with  a  terrible  regular- 
ity, hung  half  over  the  bedside.  She  slipped  hers  into 
it  and  it  closed  on  hers  tightly,  so  tightly  that  after  a 
time  the  blood  seemed  to  seek  a  way  through  her  finger- 
tips.   The  muttering  became  more  distinct. 

"  Number  36.    I  am  not  sure  about  number  36." 

1 '  He  is  doing  very  well, ' '  she  replied  softly.  ' '  Sister 
Ann  is  quite  pleased  with  him.  The  dressings  were  not 
in  the  least  disturbed,  and  he  slept  all  night  without 
drugs.  He  is  to  have  beef -tea  to-day,"  the  muttering 
had  ceased,  the  sick  man  lay  quite  still,  the  grip  of  his 
hand  was  slackening,  "  and  to-morrow  he  will  have 
chicken,  and  then,  if  he  will  only  sleep,  sleep,  sleep  quite 
quietly,  sleep — sleep — sleep." 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  307 

' '  Gnadige  Fraulein, ' '  came  tlie  nurse  's  whisper, ' '  seat 
yourself  so,  there  must  be  no  movement  if  possible.' ' 

How  long  she  sat  there,  her  hand  in  his,  she  did  not 
know,  long  enough  anyhow  to  feel  that,  when,  or  how, 
or  why  she  knew  not,  the  very  touch  of  him  had  become 
dear  to  her,  for  it  was  not  only  the  tingling  of  the  veins 
after  the  almost  benumbing  pressure  of  his  fingers  which 
sent  the  thrill  to  her  heart  and  her  brain.  He  had  told 
her  the  truth :  the  past  was  in  the  present. 

After  a  time  he  stirred,  swallowed  a  spoonful  of 
nourishment,  and  slept  again.  Another  nurse  stole  into 
the  room  and  whispered  with  the  two  in  a  corner. 
Helen  could  not  see  their  calm,  fair,  untroubled  faces,  but 
she  could  hear  one  word,  a  word  they  had  renounced  for 
themselves,  which  for  all  that  sent  a  thrill  through  their 
woman  hearts. 

' '  Love — true  love  !  ' ' 

Was  it  that  ?  Or  had  she  merely  wrecked  herself  and 
him  for  something  evanescent,  worth  little  ?  Helen  was 
half  asleep  herself,  all  she  realised  was  that  something 
had  brought  rest  to  him  for  the  time. 

So  when  the  bad  turn  came  again  he  was  stronger,  but 
so  long  as  she  was  in  the  room  the  painful  restlessness 
never  returned.  And  day  by  day  the  dressers  were  more 
satisfied. 

"  Helen  of  Troy  is  sufficient  to  bring  any  man  back 
from  the  grave,  lich  du  Hebe  Gott,  what  will  not  the  true 
love  do?  "  beamed  Herr  Pagenheim,  and  the  nurses 
sighed  and  smiled.  Finally,  there  came  a  day  when  Peter 
Ramsay  really  opened  his  eyes,  found  Helen  beside  him, 
and  closed  them  again  contentedly.  After  this  came  cogi- 
tation, so  by  degrees  a  puzzled  look  grew  to  his  eyes. 

' '  It  was  awfully  good  of  you  to  come  and  help  nurse 
me,"  he  said  weakly  at  last.  "  How  did  you  find  out  I 
was  ill?  " 

' '  Sister  Ann  had  a  letter,  so  I  came.  I  knew  you  must 
be  alone, ' '  she  replied  sedately. 

"  It  must  have  been  an  awful  journey  for  you.  I 
feel  so  sorry  about  it, ' '  he  continued  almost  impatiently. 


308  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

11  You  must  have  had  a  lot  of  trouble.  And  then,  when 
you  got  here — what  beats  me  is,  why  did  they  let  you  in  ? 
They  are  so  strict." 

She  felt  the  colour  rising  to  her  face.  "  Oh!  I  man- 
aged, ' '  she  said  evasively.  ' '  Now,  you  really  must  take 
your  Valentine's  extract  and  go  to  sleep." 

He  shifted  restlessly.  "  How  can  I  go  to  sleep  when 
I  am  worried?  "  he  said  pitifully,  fretfully  as  a  child. 
"  I  tell  you  it  must  have  given  you  a  lot  of  trouble,  and 
I'm  so  vexed." 

Her  face  grew  tender  as  she  bent  over  him.  ' '  I  assure 
you  I  had  no  trouble  at  all.  It  was  quite  easy.  Will  you 
— will  you  promise  me  to  go  to  sleep  if  I  tell  you  how — 
how  I  managed  ?  ' ' 

"  Do,"  he  said  with  a  little  sigh.  "  I  really  want  to 
know. ' ' 

1 '  They  asked  me  if  I  were  your  mother  or  your  sister, ' ' 
she  said,  scarcely  able  to  speak  for  her  trembling  lips. 
' '  So  I  said  no — but — but  that  I  was  engaged  to  be  mar- 
ried to  you." 

He  lay  quite  still.  He  did  not  even  put  out  his  hand 
to  hers,  but  the  swift  tears  ran  down  his  hollow  cheeks 
and  wetted  the  pillow. 

"  You  promised  you  would  go  to  sleep,  dear,"  she  said 
softly,  and  he  closed  his  eyes,  once  more  like  a  child. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

"  If  Madam  will  leave  it  to  us,''  said  Myfanwy  Jones, 
"  we  will  give  her  satisfaction. ' ' 

She  took  in  all  Aura's  grace  and  beauty  as  she  spoke. 
Full  of  shrewd  sense,  appreciative  by  virtue  of  her  race, 
of  all  that  makes  for  beauty,  knowledgeable  in  all  that 
enhances  beauty,  her  bold  dark  eyes  realised  that  here 
was  some  one  worth  dressing. 

' '  We  will — yes !  we  will  make  it  of  white  velours-panne 
and  dead  white  velvet.  It  will  become  Madam,  I  am  sure. 
I  will  consult  the  buyer  regarding  the  price." 

She  swept  away  over  the  Turkey  carpets  of  Williams 
and  Edwards'  shop,  her  shiny,  undulating  black  satin 
train  rippling  behind  her,  towards  a  tall,  most  immacu- 
late figure  in  a  long  frock  coat,  who  was  busy  comparing 
scraps  of  silk  with  another  tall,  broad-shouldered  young 
man.  Both  might  have  entered  a  grenadier  company  and 
looked  all  too  big  and  strong  for  their  task. 

"  Excuse  me,  Mr.  Morris,"  said  Myfanwy,  with  the 
most  superb  courtesy,  ' '  but  I  should  like  to  speak  to  Mr. 
Pugh  for  an  instant."  Having  got  him  to  herself,  her 
manner  changed. 

"Merve!"  she  said  sharply.  "What  price  order 
costume,  panne  and  velvet,  my  wedding-dress  design — 
you  know.    I  want  to  make  it. ' ' 

"  For  that  lady?  "  he  said,  looking  across  to  where 
Aura  stood,  feeling  as  she  still  felt  in  shops,  utterly  shy 
and  miserable.  In  an  instant  a  hot  flush  overspread  his 
face,  and  he  turned  back  to  the  silk  patterns. 

"  Thirty  guineas." 

Myfanwy  sniffed  scornfully.  "  You  will  oblige  me, 
Mervyn  Pugh,  by  having  some  sense.    Look  at  her !  will 

309 


310  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

she  give  more  than  fifteen  guineas  for  a  dress  ?  Never ! 
and  I  want  to  make  it. ' ' 

' '  Five-and-twenty, ' '  he  said,  refraining  from  the  look. 
He  would  gladly  have  stuck  to  the  thirty,  and  so  have 
driven  Aura  from  the  shop,  had  he  dared.  But  he  did 
not  dare.  He  was  under  Myfanwy's  orders,  and,  so 
far,  he  had  had  no  reason  to  regret  the  fact.  He  had 
climbed  like  Jonah's  gourd,  and  was  now  Williams  and 
Edwards'  first  buyer.  And  next  year  when,  after  his 
marriage  with  Myfanwy  (who  was  now  head  of  the  cos- 
tume department)  the  additional  interest  of  making 
money  for  himself  instead  of  for  others  had  come  in  his 
life,  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  of  their  success.  He 
had  all  the  Cymric 's  fine  feelings  for  feminine  fal-lals 
(which  is  shown  indubitably  by  the  names  over  the 
drapers'  shops  in  London)  and  Myfanwy  had  a  perfect 
genius  for  dress.  Considering,  therefore,  the  crowds  of 
women  absolutely  without  any  taste  at  all  who  desire  to 
dress  well,  the  result  was  assured.  He  began  to  wonder 
how  he  had  ever  thought  seriously  of  being  a  pedagogue, 
a  demagogue,  or  a  minister. 

' '  I  shall  say  twenty, ' '  remarked  Myfanwy  reflectively, 
' '  it  can  be  made  for  fifteen,  and  she  shall  have  it  for  that 
in  the  end.  But  I  want  to  make  it.  She  is  lovely — and 
I  want  to  know  how  I  shall  look  in  my  wedding-dress. ' ' 

' '  Twenty !  ' '  said  Mervyn  wavering. 

"  I  hope  it  may  buy  her  all  she  desires  as  my  dress 
will  buy  me,"  contended  Myfanwy,  with  a  challenge  of 
lip  and  eyes.  "  I  will  say  eighteen,  Mervyn,  to  begin 
with." 

With  that  she  swept  back  to  Aura.  "  It  will  be 
eighteen  guineas,  Madam,"  she  said  sweetly;  "  but  if 
Madam  will  give  us  the  Mechlin  scarf  she  is  wearing  to 
utilise,  it  will  be  fifteen." 

Fifteen!  It  seemed  enormous  to  Aura's  ignorance. 
Yet  Ted  had  given  twelve,  she  knew,  for  the  pink  satin, 
and  he  had  bidden  her — since  he  was  too  busy  to  shop — 
be  sure  and  get  something  very  nice  indeed  for  Ned 
Blackborough's   dance   on  New  Year's   Eve.     Fifteen 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  311 

whole  sovereign  remedies  and  fifteen  shillings  over! 
What  an  immense  amount  to  spend  upon  herself,  she 
who  at  best  was  but  a  poor  maimed  thing.  Every  now 
and  again  this  feeling  of  being,  as  it  were,  a  castaway, 
a  derelict  on  Life's  sea,  would  come  to  her,  though  she 
knew  that  millions  of  women,  many  from  choice,  went 
through  the  world  and  left  their  mark  on  it  with  never  a 
child  to  call  them  mother.  Still  the  sense  of  being,  as  it 
were,  out  of  the  fighting-line  was  at  times  oppressive.  So 
few  things  seemed  to  matter ;  certainly  not  the  spending 
of  money. 

"  It  will  have  to  be  ready  by  the  31st,"  she  stipulated, 
and  then  she  smiled  as  she  invariably  did  when  she  re- 
membered Ned  Blackborough. 

Myf anwy  Jones  took  in  the  smile  with  critical  shrewd- 
ness. Had  she  been  asked,  she  would  have  said  it  was 
not  exactly  the  smile  of  a  married  woman,  although  Aura 
had  given  her  name  as  Mrs.  Cruttenden. 

What  of  that?  Myf  anwy 's  notions  were  decidedly 
broad,  and  if  she  could  compass  a  good  time,  as  she  her- 
self counted  a  good  time,  for  this  lovely  girl,  the  lovely 
girl  should  have  one. 

"Miss  Moore!  Madam's  measure!"  she  called  in 
queenly  fashion,  and  searched  in  her  beaded-satchel — 
pockets  would  have  disturbed  the  elegant  set  of  her  dress 
— for  a  pencil.  It  had  slipped  inside  a  folded  paper,  and 
as  Myf  anwy  removed  it,  she  smiled  in  her  turn.  For  she 
had  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  writing  and  printing  inside 
the  paper. 

"  Miss  Alicia  Edwards,"  "  Messrs.  Williams  and  Ed- 
ward," "  per  M.  Jones." 

Only  that  morning  Myf  anwy  had  paid  the  bill  and  re- 
ceived her  commission  on  the  sales ;  so  there  it  was  await- 
ing developments. 

' '  If  Madam  will  come  for  one  fitting, ' '  suggested  My- 
fanwy  superbly.  She  was  going  to  stake  her  reputation 
on  this  dress,  and  she  meant  not  to  lose  it. 

The  result  exceeded  even  her  expectations. 

Aura  looked  at  herself  in  the  long  glass  and  then  at 


312  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

Myfanwy,  who,  with  infinite  condescension,  had  insisted 
on  seeing  Madam  dressed. 

"  What  have  you  done  tome?"  she  asked,  "  I  don't 
know  myself." 

"Was  it  the  long,  straight,  brilliant,  moonshiny  folds 
that  made  her  look  so  tall  and  slim?  Was  it  the  tiny, 
scarcely-seen  silver  threads  outlining  the  flowing  curves 
of  dead-white  velvet  about  the  hem  which  made  one  think 
of  moonlit  clouds  ?  Was  it  the  cunningly  devised  drapery 
of  lace  which  made  the  bodice  seem  a  loose  sheath  to  love- 
liness ? 

Myfanwy  Jones  looked  at  Aura  with  undisguised  pity. 
"  It  is  only  that  Madam  is  so  seldom  dressed ;  she  is  only 
clothed ;  but  to-night  she  will  be  the  best-dressed  person 
in  the  rooms. ' '  She  looked  at  her  doll  with  a  sphynx-like 
expression  not  without  some  malice  in  it.  "  If  Madam 
will  allow  me, ' '  she  said,  and  her  deft  fingers  were  in  the 
bronze  hair:  "  so — the  shape  of  Madam's  head  is  heaven- 
ly— and — and  not  the  diamond  brooch — the  dress  re- 
quires nothing  but  Madam 's  self.  That  is  right !  I  trust 
Madam  will  enjoy  herself." 

Aura  went  downstairs  to  show  herself  to  her  husband, 
with  a  queer  new  feeling  of  power  tingling  in  every  vein. 
Why  at  two-and-twenty  should  she  hold  herself  derelict  ? 
A  ship  need  not  always  steer  straight  to  the  pole. 

Ted  had  been  extremely  busy  and  rather  irritable  ever 
since  she  had  returned ;  not  irritable  with  her — he  never 
was  that — but  distrait  and  careless.  In  a  way  it  had  been 
a  relief,  since  it  had  given  her  time  to  try  and  adjust 
herself  to  her  new  outlook.  She  had  not  even  spoken  to 
him  regarding  that  new  outlook;  she  was  almost  doubt- 
ing if  she  should.  Her  silence  would,  no  doubt,  be  a  bar 
to  perfect  confidence;  but  was  such  a  thing  as  perfect 
confidence  possible  between  two  people  so  dissimilar  as 
she  and  Ted?  Perhaps  it  was  better  to  drift  on. 
Whither? 

The  question  would  come  with  a  pang,  sometimes 
bringing  the  thought  that  it  might  have  been  better  if  she 
and  the  little  one — the  little  daughter  they  told  her — had 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  313 

gone  out  hand  in  hand  to  wander  in  the  "  groves  of 
asphodel. ' '  That  was  Ned 's  phrase ;  and  with  that  would 
come  another  pang. 

What  would  she  do  without  Ned?  He  had  been  so 
kind.  He  had  lent  her  books  to  read,  he  had  taken  her 
out  in  the  motor,  he  had  even  talked  of  the  dead  baby 
almost  as  if  he  understood  how  dear  a  memory  it  had 
to  be. 

Ted  looked  at  her  from  head  to  foot,  and  a  slow  smile 
crept  over  his  good-looking  sensible  face. 

"  That  is  something  like,"  he  said.  "  By  Jove!  you 
look  most  awfully  fetching!  A  little  ice-bergy,"  he  con- 
tinued, bending  to  kiss  the  white  shoulder  above  the 
Mechlin  lace :  "  but — but  that's  your  style.  Only  I  wish 
you  had  more  colour.  If  this  '  biz  '  of  mine  comes  off, 
we'll  take  a  holiday  somewhere — Monte  Carlo,  perhaps — 
the  Hirsches  are  going  there.  Now  we  ought  to  be  start- 
ing. You  don't  mind  my  dancing,  do  you  dearest?  I 
do  wish  you'd  learn.  It  looks  so  odd  your  sitting  out 
with  the  old  fogies." 

11  I  shall  sit  out  with  Ned,"  she  replied  lightly. 

For  the  first  time  in  her  life  Ted  frowned  at  her.  "  It 
seems  to  me,"  he  said  quite  nastily,  "  that  you  have 
done  a  lot  of  sitting-out  with  Ned  lately.  I  don't  half 
like  it." 

She  stared  at  him,  and  all  the  way  to  New  Park  sat 
thinking  of  what  he  had  said.  Was  it  possible  he  was 
going  to  be  jealous  of  her  ?  Of  her  who  had  married  him 
to  get  rid  of  the  very  possibility." 

A  ray  of  light  from  a  gas-lamp  lit  up  her  face,  and 
she  found  Ted's  eyes  fastened  on  her. 

"  You  are  most  awfully  fetching  to-night — you  look 
so  jolly  mysterious  somehow,"  he  said  joyously,  putting 
his  cheek  against  hers.    ' '  Give  me  a  kiss,  wif elet. ' ' 

She  gave  him  one.  She  would  have  given  him  a  dozen 
of  the  trivial  things  had  he  asked  for  them !  Then  she 
laid  her  hand  on  his. 

"  You  weren't  serious  about  Ned,  were  you?  "  she 
asked. 


314  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

11  Not — not  altogether/'  lie  admitted  with  a  smile; 
"  but  you  can't  be  too  careful,  my  child.  People  are  the 
devil  to  talk.  And  you  mustn't  forget  that  he  did  want 
to  marry  you. ' ' 

She  must  not  forget !  And  all  her  efforts  had  been  to 
forget  it  utterly.    What  a  queer  world  it  was ! 

"  Here  we  are,"  said  Ted  cheerfully.  "  By  Jove! 
Blackborough  is  doing  it  well!  " 

For  once,  indeed,  New  Park  looked  habitable.  Ned, 
remembering  the  East,  had  had  it  illuminated  in  Indian 
fashion,  and  even  the  heavy-browed  architraves  and  the 
stucco  columns  looked  passable  outlined  by  rows  of  little 
lamps.  Great  cressets  blazed  following  the  ground  plan 
of  the  huge  pile,  the  balustrades  of  the  formal  terraces 
shone  in  lines  of  light.  The  wide  portico,  carefully  en- 
closed, was  full  of  palms,  and  festooned  with  vines  from 
which  hung  great  clusters  of  grapes.  "Within,  it  was  im- 
possible to  recognise  the  formal  suites  of  rooms.  They 
seemed  to  have  vanished,  taking  with  them  all  the 
stiff  furniture,  the  gorgeous  clogging  carpets.  In  their 
places  were  airy  pavilions,  orange  gardens,  great  groves 
of  tall  lilies.  Money  had  been  spent  lavishly  in  getting 
rid  of  all  traces  of  money.  And  in  the  centre  of  it 
all  stood  Ned  Blackborough  with  Helen  Tressilian,  look- 
ing years  younger,  beside  him,  as  she  received  congratu- 
lations on  her  approaching  marriage,  all  the  time  keep- 
ing a  watchful  eye  lest  Peter  Ramsay  should  weary 
after  his  recent  illness ;  but  he  looked  alert  and  keen  as 
ever. 

"  A  small  and  early,  and  you  come  at  a  quarter  past 
nine !  ' '  said  Ned,  then  paused,  absolutely  dazzled  by  the 
shiny  folds,  the  moonlit  clouds,  the  parted  sheath  of  the 
bodice  concealing  surely  the  most  beautiful  thing  in  the 
world.  His  vagrant  mind  reverted  on  the  instant  with  a 
quaint  admixture  of  regret  and  exultation  to  the  adorn- 
ment he  had  ordered  for  the  select  supper-table  at  which 
Aura  was  to  be  entertained.  This  woman  was  beyond 
such  simplicities  as  a  little  purple  iris.  For  her,  white 
roses,  tuberoses,  gardenias,  stephanotis;  all  the  deadly 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  315 

sweet  white  things  in  the  world,  even  the  poisonous 
dhatura! 

1 '  I  have  put  my  name  down  for  some  dances  later  on, ' ' 
he  said,  handing  her  a  programme ;  ' '  I  shall  be  busy  at 
first,  but — let  me  see — Lord  Scudamore,  I  am  going  to 
give  you  the  honour  of  being  presented  to  Mrs.  Crut- 
tenden.    Remember,  you  are  engaged  to  me  for  supper. ' ' 

"  Is  that  wise?  What  will  they  say?  "  asked  Helen 
doubtfully,  as  Aura  and  her  cavalier — a  diplomatic-look- 
ing wearer  of  an  immaculate  dress-suit,  with  some  sort  of 
a  ribbon  across  the  shirt — moved  off. 

"  They,  my  dear  Helen,  will  by  that  time  be  envying 
me  my  good  luck,  at  least  all  the  men  will,  and  I  will  tell 
the  cavilling  women  she  is  a  bride.  Did  you  ever  see 
such  a  fairly  bewildering  dress  ?  She  is  the  whole  Dream 
of  Fair  Women  rolled  into  one." 

"  Let  us  go  into  the  Winter  Palace.  Have  you  seen 
it?  "  said  Aura's  diplomat,  and  she  went  with  him 
nothing  loth.  Ten  minutes  afterwards,  however,  she  com- 
plained of  a  draught,  and  left  it  somewhat  hurriedly,  she 
with  fine  flaming  cheeks  and  he  somewhat  sulkily.  That 
was  the  worse  of  rustics ;  they  could  not  understand  the 
most  ordinary  persiflage. 

1 '  Where  would  you  like  to  sit  ?  I  am  afraid  I  am  en- 
gaged for  this  dance,"  he  said  icily. 

"  Oh!  anywhere,  I  like  to  be  alone,"  replied  Aura. 

It  was  not  long  her  fate.  Mr.  Hirsch  spied  her  out  and 
bore  down  upon  her,  white  waiscoat  and  all.  His  open 
admiration  was  almost  a  relief,  mixed  up  as  it  was  with 
still  more  boundless  adoration  of  his  daughter,  who  came 
flitting  past  in  Ted's  arms.  They  were  too  much  ab- 
sorbed in  their  waltz  and  their  enjoyment  of  it  to  notice 
the  sitters  out,  but  Mr.  Hirsch  waxed  enthusiastic  over 
their  appearance.  They  were  a  couple  to  be  proud  of, 
and  he  really  was  becoming  quite  proud  of  Ted,  who 
promised  to  be  a  very  rich  man.  He  felt  quite  like  a 
father  towards  him ;  he  had  indeed  fathered  him  into  the 
world  of  speculation,  and — ha-ha-ha — then  he  waxed  ex- 
ceedingly hilarious — if  Mr.  Cruttenden  hadn't  been  in 


316  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

such  a  terrible  hurry  to  get  married,  who  knows  but  what 
a  family  arrangement — she  must  excuse  him,  but  really  if 
she  would  look  so  superlatively  beautiful  she  must  expect 
the  world  to  go  crazy. 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at  so  loudly,  papa?  "  asked 
Miss  Hirsch,  pulled  up  in  the  next  round  by  her  parent's 
laughter.  *  *  I  'm  sure  he  must  be  boring  you  terribly,  Mrs. 
Cruttenden.  And  there  is  Mr.  Leveson,  papa,  just  dying 
to  be  introduced — he  told  me  so  just  now — do  go  and 
fetch  him.  You'll  find  him  awfully  amusing,  Mrs.  Crut- 
tenden, he  has  seen  so  much  life. ' ' 

He  had  seen  too  much  for  Aura.  She  came  out  from 
the  conservatory  white  with  anger.  By  this  time  half 
the  men  in  the  room  were  looking  at  her,  and  it  was  no 
longer  any  question  of  being  alone.  She  was  beginning  to 
feel  frightened,  she  looked  vainly  for  Ted,  but  he  having 
seen  her,  as  he  phrased  it  self-complacently,  ' '  well-start- 
ed," was  amusing  himself.  So,  in  the  crush  of  smiling, 
flattering  faces,  she  saw  Ned  Blackborough's,  and  caught 
almost  convulsively  at  his  arm,  and  his  quiet  decorous 
claim. 

"  Our  dance,  I  think." 

"  Oh!  Ned!  "  she  said  hurriedly,  "do  let  us  go  to 
some  quiet  place  where  we  can  get  away  from  every- 
body." 

The  suggestion  was  but  too  welcome.  Free  for  a  time 
from  his  duties  as  host,  he  cast  all  prudence  to  the  winds. 
The  sort  of  thing  that  had  been  going  on  was  all  very 
well,  but  it  must  end  in  the  inevitable  way.  When  she  was 
happy,  he  might  have  been  a  fool.  Now,  he  would  not 
be  one.  It  was  not  as  if  he  would  be  doing  Ted  any  real 
harm.  If  he  was  free  of  her  he  would  be  free  to  marry 
and  have  sons  to  inherit  his  money,  he  could  even  mar- 
ry Miss  Hirsch! 

The  library  whither  they  escaped  looked  snug  and 
comfortable,  all  untouched  by  the  babel  without.  The 
reading  lamp  by  the  blazing  fire ;  Ned 's  book  as  he  had 
left  it. 

"  This  is  nice,"  she  said  with  a  little  shiver  of  satisfac- 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  317 

tion,  and  taking  up  the  book  crouched  down  in  her  usual 
fashion  by  the  fire  to  see  what  it  was. 

Ned 's  pulses  were  bounding.  It  was  all  he  could  do  to 
keep  his  voice  steady. 

1 '  You  oughtn  't  to  do  Cinderella  in  that  lovely  gown !  ' ' 
he  said. 

Aura  looked  at  him  critically.  "  I  feel  like  Cinder- 
ella," she  said.  "  I  believe  I  want  to  go  home  before 
twelve;  and  I  don't  think  I  like  the  gown;  it  makes  me 
something  I  never  was  before. ' ' 

There  was  a  silence.  Ned  Blackborough  was  telling 
himself  he  was  a  fool. 

"  I  shall  put  out  the  light  if  you  insist  on  trying  to 
read  a  bad  French  novel  instead  of  speaking  to  me, ' '  he 
said.  "  There! — "  the  click  of  the  electric  button  sound- 
ed clear.  "  It's  much  nicer  with  the  firelight.  Give  that 
thing  to  me." 

1 '  Bad  French  novel, ' '  she  echoed.  ' '  Why  do  you  read 
it  if  it  is  bad?    I  wouldn't." 

"All  people  are  not  perfect,"  he  said  recklessly. 
"  Most  of  us — except  you — have  a  bad  side.  I  often 
wonder  what  you  would  say  if  I  were  to  show  you 
mine?  " 

"  You  couldn't,"  she  said  softly. 

He  had  literally  to  harden  his  heart  before  he  could  go 
on,  and  then  he  had  to  double  back.  "  It — it  isn't  a  bad 
book  after  all, ' '  he  went  on  turning  the  leaves  idly,  ' '  it 
is  only  real  life.  I'll  tell  you  the  story  if  you  like.  Of 
course  it  is  about  a  woman,  and  a  man,  and — and  a  hus- 
band—the old  story  that  is  always  cropping  up  in  the 
world,  so  the  book's  no  good."  He  threw  it  aside  in  sud- 
den impulse  upon  the  table,  and  knelt  down  beside  her. 
"Aura,"  he  said  passionately,  "  you  and  I  know  the  be- 
ginning of  the  story  well.  Why  should  we  try  and  escape 
from  the  ending  of  it?  Oh!  for  God's  sake,  child,  don't 
look  like  that !  " 

She  had  sprung  up  and  was  glancing  down  at  the  white 
shimmering  folds  of  her  gown  in  absolute  horror. 

"  It  is  the  dress,"  she  muttered.    "  It  is  not  me — it  is 


318  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

not  you,  Ned — oh  Ned,  it  can't  be  yon — it  is  the  dress — I 
will  go  home — I  must  go  home " 

' '  Aura !  ' '  he  cried,  but  she  eluded  him  and  was  out  in 
the  wide  lit  corridor  ere  he  could  even  ask  her  to  be  calm 
— to  forgive  him — to  forget.  He  glanced  after  her  for  a 
moment ;  then  with  a  curse  at  himself  closed  the  door  and 
sat  down  moodily  before  the  fire.    What  was  the  good  ! 

Between  the  palms,  the  roses,  the  endless  flowers  and 
curtains  of  the  corridor  were  many  a  cosy  corner,  many 
a  prepared  nook  where  men  and  women  in  the  intervals 
between  the  dances  sought  seclusion  and  love-making, 
more  or  less  casual  according  to  the  taste  of  the  makers — 
and  where  passion,  doubtless,  had  gone  further  than 
Ned 's  brief  outburst. 

* '  Hullo,  Aura !  ' '  came  her  husband 's  voice  as  he 
issued  from  one  of  these  corners  with  Miss  Hirsch  on  his 
arm.    ' '  All  alone !    Why,  what  'sup?" 

The  necessity  for  calm  came  to  her.  "  I  was  looking 
for  you,"  she  said.  "  I  want  you  to  order  the  carriage 
for  me.  I'm  feeling — not  very  well — and  I  shall  be  bet- 
ter at  home — you  see,  as  I  don't  dance."  She  looked 
helplessly  at  him  wondering  if  she  would  be  allowed 
to  go. 

"  I'll  take  you  home,  of  course,  if  you  want  to  go," 
he  said  gloomily — "  that  is,  if  Miss  Hirsch  will  excuse 
me."  His  regret  for  three  more  dances  with  the  jolliest 
girl  he  had  met  for  years  was  in  his  voice. 

"  Then  I  won't  go,"  she  began,  "  I  couldn't 
spoil " 

"  You  are  not  looking  a  bit  well,"  said  Miss  Hirsch 
kindly.  "  See!  I'll  take  you  to  the  ladies'  room.  Mr. 
Cruttenden,  you  might  send  her  in  a  glass  of  champagne. 
Then  you  can  have  a  quiet  rest  there,  and  go  home  later 
if  you  want  to,  but  I  expect  you'll  be  all  right  by  sup- 
per time." 

She  nodded  knowingly  to  Ted  and  went  off  with  Aura, 
bursting  over  with  friendliness. 

But,  left  alone  in  charge  of  a  bevy  of  prim  maids,  with 
the  untouched  champagne  before  her,  Aura's  courage 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  319 

rose.  She  would  do  what  she  wanted  to  do.  So,  on  her 
programme  card  she  wrote  a  note  to  her  husband  using 
all  the  most  consoling  phrases  she  could  think  of — ' '  Feel- 
ing a  little  bilious,"  was  in  itself  sufficient  to  allay  any 
anxiety — ended  up  with  a  cheerful — "  I  shall  be  asleep 
long  ere  you  come  home,  please  enjoy  yourself,"  and 
leaving  this  to  be  given  to  him  when  he  came  to  inquire, 
slipped  away.  The  clocks  were  just  striking  half -past 
eleven  when  she  paid  the  cabman  at  the  gate.  She  had 
forgotten  the  latch-key,  but,  thank  heaven,  the  servants 
were  still  up.  It  was  New  Year's  Eve.  Her  thoughts 
flew  back  to  Cwmfaernog,  to  the  last  New  Year's  Day 
when  she  had  learnt  so  many  things. 

She  was  going  to  learn  more  now.  She  could  not  un- 
derstand. She  did  not  know  what  the  world  meant.  She 
was  going  to  see  for  herself  once  and  for  all. 

As  she  thought  this  she  was  stripping  off  Myfanwy's 
creation. 

1 '  Enjoy  herself !  ' '  She  flung  it  into  a  corner  almost 
with  a  cry,  and  the  next  minute  stood  in  her  white  serge 
and  the  brown  Tam-o'-Shanter.  Mercifully  some  faint 
instinct  of  self-preservation  made  her  muffle  up  the 
bronze  beauty  of  her  hair  and  hide  some  of  the  perfec- 
tion of  her  face  under  a  thick  veil.  The  next  instant  she 
had  carefully  closed  the  front  door  again,  and  was  hur- 
rying away  down  the  road  towards  the  electric  tram. 
They  went  till  midnight;  that  would  take  her  quickest 
to  the  heart  of  the  great  city.  She  had  Ted's  duplicate 
latch-key  with  her ;  she  would  try  and  be  back  before  he 
returned. 

Hitherto  she  had  sought  for  the  uttermost  wisdom  of 
nature  amongst  the  everlasting  hills — now  she  was  going 
to  seek  the  uttermost  wisdom  of  man  in  his  haunts. 

"  Hullo!  Polly,  my  dear,  ain't  you  comin'  my  side?  " 
came  a  voice  from  the  shadows  over  the  way,  but  she  was 
close  to  the  tram  lines  now,  and  a  car  was  coming  along. 
It  was  full  of  holiday-makers  singing,  shouting,  harm- 
less enough,  but  over  hilarious.  Here  there  were  more 
appeals  to  Polly  (why  perpetually  Polly  rather  puzzled 


320  A   SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

her)  as  she  clung  to  a  strap,  until  a  jovial  elderly  man 
pulled  her  down  on  his  knee.  Whereat  the  whole  car 
roared  as  if  it  were  some  exquisite  joke.  But  they  meant 
no  harm ;  they  were  only  just  a  little  convivial. 

The  car  stopped  at  the  Cross,  the  centre  of  the  great 
city,  and  she  got  out.  It  was  a  fine  old  Cross,  weather- 
beaten,  worn,  bearing  on  its  four  sides  beneath  the  soar- 
ing quaintly  floreated  Symbol  of  Salvation,  four  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  Passion  of  the  Master,  the  Scourging,  the 
Mocking,  the  Cross-carrying,  the  Crucifying. 

Beneath  the  latter  Aura  stood  looking  out  with  clear 
eyes  at  the  conduct  of  Christendom.  The  radiating 
streets  were  all  thronged ;  the  late  music-halls  were  belch- 
ing out  their  crowds,  the  supper-rooms  were  preparing 
to  close  by  turning  out  their  guests.  But  the  streets  were 
not  ready  for  bed. 

What  a  crowd!  Gaily  dressed  women  of  almost  all 
types.  Some  painted,  bedizened,  unmistakable,  others 
apeing  them  amused,  uncertain,  even  faintly  repelled. 
Men  with  every  expression  on  their  faces,  from  evil 
passion,  through  vulgarity,  to  contemptuous  tolerance. 
Half-grown  girls  more  outrageous  than  their  elders,  half- 
grown  lads  jostling,  leering,  raiding  the  pavement- 
walkers  into  the  very  street.  The  electric  light  danced 
and  quivered,  the  moistened  mud  of  a  thousand  footsteps 
sparkled  and  shone. 

Where  in  all  her  midnight  walks  upon  the  hills  had 
she  seen  a  sight  like  to  this? 

As  she  stood,  more  than  one  offer  of  a  drink  fell  on  her 
ears ;  but  she  took  no  notice. 

"  If  you  ain't  goin',"  said  a  policeman  familiarly, 
"  you  must  move  on.  I  can't  'ave  you  standin'  doing 
nothin'.  " 

So  she  quitted  the  shadow  of  the  Crucifixion;  but  at 
the  corner  of  the  street  also,  it  was  still ' '  move  on, ' '  when 
she  herself  had  failed  to  move  on;  so  the  next  time  the 
offer  of  a  drink  came  she  accepted  it. 

"  Bully  for  you,  my  girl ;  come  along,' '  said  the  offerer, 
and  they  went  across  to  a  gin  shop,  the  doors  of  which  had 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  321 

never  once  been  still;  the  flashing  of  their  backwards 
and  forward  swing  beating  out  the  seconds  with  the  reg- 
ularity of  a  clock. 

How  bright  it  was !  How  full  these  last  few  minutes 
before  twelve. 

The  offerer  appraised  his  guest  critically,  "  Sherry!  " 
he  ordered,  ' '  and  the  usual — now !  my  girl,  drink  it  up 
sharp.  The  night's  young  for  pleasure  yet,  but  we  shall 
have  to  turn  out  and  find  some  other  place." 

Aura  looked  at  him  clearly;  at  the  face,  not  bad  in 
itself,  but  overlaid  with  sensuality. 

"lam  not  going  to  drink, ' '  she  said  coldly.  l '  I  only 
came  in  to  see — and  I  have  seen. ' ' 

She  turned  to  go.  Luckily  for  her,  his  torrent  of  ob- 
scene abuse  was  interrupted  by  a  general  exodus ;  for  sud- 
denly the  Town  Hall  clock  boomed,  the  church  bells  rang 
out,  the  old  year  passed,  the  new  year  began;  began  with 
shouts  and  curses  and  kisses  and  laughter.  Some  one 
struck  up  "  Should  Auld  Acquaintance  be  Forgot,"  and 
a  band  of  perfect  strangers  to  each  other,  hand-clasped 
and  feeling  wildly  at  each  end  for  further  friendship, 
lurched  across  the  street. 

A  Salvation  lass,  her  face  vivid  with  intent,  clutched  at 
Aura's  arm.  "  Don't  go  with  him,  my  girl— don't— he 
is  the  Devil — he  is  Sin  incarnate — he  is " 

"lam  not  going, ' '  answered  Aura  in  a  queer  strained 
voice.  "  I  am  in  school.  I  am  learning.  I  want  to  see 
for  myself." 

"  That  was  Eve's  sin — you  are  lost — come — come  with 

me." 

The  crowd  jostled  them  apart,  jostled  Aura  into  the 
shadow  of  a  narrow  archway.  More  than  one  man's  face 
looked  into  the  shadow,  spoke,  then  passed  on  with  a  jibe. 
The  streets  were  beginning  to  empty;  the  crowd  was  dis- 
solving into  couples;  men  and  women  were  hurrying 
away  into  the  side  streets.    She  must  be  going  also. 

"  Hullo !  you  young  devil !  I  have  got  you  again,  have 
I?  "  came  a  hoarse  voice,  and  a  hand  clutched  at  her  arm. 

She  wrenched  it  away,  and  looked  for  escape.    Beside 


322  &■   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

the  low  archway  rose  a  flight  of  steps,  above  the  steps  a 
wider  archway.  A  small  door  in  it  stood  open.  Scarcely 
thinking  what  she  did,  she  sprang  towards  it,  set  aside 
a  leathern  curtain,  and  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  found 
herself  in  a  church.  At  least  the  man  would  not  follow 
her  here. 

What  a  quaint  little  place!  It  was  almost  dark,  but 
lights  were  burning,  small  twinkling  lights  set  in  the 
form  of  a  star  at  the  further  end,  and  she  went  forward 
curiously.  The  chapel,  for  it  was  no  more  than  that,  was 
not  quite  empty.  Here  and  there  among  the  shadowy 
chairs  some  figure — generally  two  figures  together — 
showed  dimly. 

It  must  be  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel,  for  that  gracious 
woman's  figure  crowned  with  stars  uplifted  above  the 
sanctuary  doors  with  a  child  in  her  arms,  must  be  the 
Blessed  Mother. 

Aura's  heart  leapt  up  to  her.    That  she  understood. 

And  what  was  this  at  her  gracious  feet,  beneath  the 
five-pointed  star  of  light? 

That  was  the  mother  again  kneeling  in  adoration  be- 
fore her  new-born  child,  while  the  ox  and  the  ass  wor- 
shipped with  wide,  soft  eyes,  and  the  shepherds  and  the 
wise  men  thronged  the  door. 

Aura  knelt  down  before  the  creche,  her  eyes  wide,  soft 
as  those  of  the  beasts  that  perish.  Here  was  peace.  Here 
was  perfection !  No !  not  perfection,  but  the  road  to  it. 
This  was  the  solution  of  the  horrors  of  human  life  out- 
side, but  beyond  human  life  lay  the  life  that  was  not 
human,  the  something  better  of  her  dreams. 

A  touch  on  her  shoulder  roused  her.  One  of  the  Sisters 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  engaged  in  this  rescue 
work,  was  beside  her. 

"  Courage!  "  she  said.  "  Courage!  my  sister!  Our 
Blessed  Lady  will  help  you.    Give  up  your  sinful  life.,, 

Aura  rose  and  looked  at  her  simply.  ' '  I  am  not  a  bad 
woman, ' '  she  said.  ' '  I — I  don 't  think  I  ever  could  have 
been  one.  Now  I  know  I  couldn't."  Then  she  flushed 
up.    "  I — I  should  like  to  give  something, ' '  she  continued, 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  323 

and  thrusting  her  purse  into  the  sister 's  hand,  she  turned 
and  passed  rapidly  into  the  street  again. 

She  had  seen  enough ;  she  had  learnt  enough.  Now  to 
get  home. 

She  would  have  taken  one  of  the  cabs,  of  which  two 
or  three  still  stood  by  the  Cross,  but  she  had  no  money. 
There  were  two  pennies,  it  is  true,  in  the  pocket  of  her 
jacket,  but  the  trams  had  ceased  running  for  the  night. 
There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  walk,  and  she  had  no 
idea  of  the  way.  Her  two  first  experiences  of  asking  it, 
one  entailing  immediate  flight  from  insult,  were  not  en- 
couraging. So  the  clocks  were  chiming  half -past  three 
ere,  utterly  worn  out,  draggled  beyond  belief,  she  stood 
in  the  hall  of  her  own  house  again,  thankful  to  find  from 
the  darkness  that  Ted  had  not  yet  returned.  He  might 
be  back  any  moment,  however,  so  she  must  make  haste 
and  remove  her  garments.  She  flung  them  all  soiled  and 
stained  with  the  grime  of  the  city,  on  the  top  of  My- 
fanwy  Jones'  creation,  the  beginning  and  the  end  to- 
gether. 

Then,  as  she  stood  in  her  white  dressing-gown,  she 
paused  to  listen.  Was  that  a  sound  in  Ted's  study? 
Could  he  have  come  in  already  1  come  in  without  seeing 
how  she  was? 

She  went  downstars.  There  was  a  light  beneath  the 
door ;  she  opened  it. 

The  room  seemed  to  her  to  be  full  of  smoke,  making 
all  things  in  it  unreal,  almost  fantastic.  And  was  that 
her  husband  looming  large,  jovial,  content  through  this 
new  atmosphere  ?    She  shrank  back  from  it. 

"  Hullo,  little  woman  !  Aura !  I've  such  news  for  you. 
I've  turned  up  trumps  with  a  vengeance.  I'm  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds  richer  than  I  was  yesterday.  I  found 
the  telegram  when  I  came  home  half  an  hour  ago,  and 
I  've  been  dreaming  ever  since.  Such  dreams !  You  shall 
have  the  best  time  a  woman  ever  had — frocks,  jewels, 
everything — and  by  and  by " 

"  There  may  be  no  by  and  by,"  she  said  quickly. 
"  Ted— oh  Ted!  be  good  to  me." 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

"  It  is  May,"  said  Ned  Blackborough  in  rather  a  strained 
voice,  "  and  you  promised  to  come  to  Cwmfaernog  in 
May.    You  look  as  if  you  needed  a  holiday.    Come !  ' ' 

Yes,  it  was  May.  Four  whole  months  had  passed 
since  My f anwy  Jones '  dress  had  upset  Aura 's  cosmogony, 
and  she  had  fled  to  find  some  foothold  in  the  slums  of 
the  city.  She  had  found  a  faith  there,  and  had  spent 
four  months  in  trying  to  put  that  faith  into  practice. 

It  had  been  up-hill  work,  but  her  courage  had  not 
wavered. 

Her  eyes  were  clear  as  she  looked  back  at  Ned,  who 
had  come  in  to  find  her,  as  she  so  often  was  nowadays, 
alone.  For  Ted 's  first  great  success  had  been  but  a  pre- 
liminary to  months  of  daily  excitement  spent  in  gaining, 
losing,  gaining  again,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  seemed 
to  have  lost  sight  of  the  future  altogether.  And  for  the 
present  he  was  too  busy  to  care.  Then  underlying  all 
things  was  his  consciousness  of  youth.  The  outlook  be- 
fore him  was  long ;  he  could  not  but  see  that  chance  might 
come  into  it.  Why !  in  five  years  time  he  would  be  just 
reaching  the  age  at  which  it  was  prudent  for  a  business 
man  to  marry;  for,  of  course,  his  marriage  to  poor  dear 
Aura  had  been  grossly  imprudent,  though,  but  for  this 
one  disappointment, — which  naturally  meant  more  to  her 
than  to  him — it  had  turned  out  very  well.  If  only  she 
would  have  condescended  to  amuse  herself  like  other  girls 
— like  Rosa  Hirsch,  for  instance — they  might  have  had 
a  jolly  time  together  in  the  various  European  capitals 
whither  his  business  took  him.  But  what  was  the  use  of 
taking  her  when  the  only  places  in  which  Aura  was  not 
shy  and  ill  at  ease  were  musty  fusty  old  picture  galleries 

324 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  325 

and  dreary  botanical  gardens.  And  "  the  Zoo,"  of 
course ;  she  had  always  been  at  home  in  ' '  the  Zoo  ' ' ;  but 
then  there  was  that  beastly  smell  of  smaller  mammals  all 
over  the  shop.  So  he  had  gone  his  way,  kindly,  quite 
affectionately,  wholly  without  sympathy.  To  Aura  it  was 
rather  a  relief ;  it  gave  her  time  to  rearrange  her  world. 

She  was  looking  a  little  weary  over  a  pile  of  household 
accounts.  There  was  no  need  nowadays  for  heartburn- 
ings as  to  expense;  but  none  the  less  Ted  expected  a 
properly-balanced  book,  and  the  items  were  terribly 
numerous.  It  was  the  herring-and-a-half  problem  ex- 
pressed in  pounds  instead  of  pence,  and  there  was  quite 
a  wrinkle  of  thought  between  Aura's  eyebrows,  for  she 
was  no  arithmetician. 

To  Ned  that  wrinkle  was  a  tragedy;  but  then  it  is 
always  a  tragedy  for  a  man  to  watch  from  a  distance  the 
woman  he  loves  trying  to  reconstruct  her  life,  and  recon- 
cile herself  to  the  lack  of  what  he  knows  he  could  give 
her;  and  the  greater  her  success  the  greater — in  a  way 
— is  the  tragedy. 

Ned  had  felt  this  every  instant  of  those  four  months 
during  which  the  memory  of  that  pitiful  protest,  "  Not 
you  Ned.  Ah !  Ned,  not  you !  ' '  had  come  between  him 
and  even  apology.  When  he  had  gone  back  that  evening 
to  fling  himself  into  a  chair  and  gloom  over  the  fire  for 
a  few  minutes,  he  had  told  himself  he  was  a  fool.  He 
had  told  himself  so  hundreds  of  times  since  that  evening, 
until  there  had  grown  up  in  him  the  conviction  that  this 
sort  of  thing  could  not  possibly  last  for  ever.  Why 
should  it  ?  Why  should  three  human  beings  be  sacrificed  1 
And  in  heaven's  name  to  what?  Not  to  a  marriage  of 
either  soul  or  body.  They  all  needed  something  which 
they  had  not  got.  Ted  needed,  or  would  need,  a  wife  and 
children.  These  might  be  his  if  Aura  were  taken  away. 
She  needed  the  old,  free,  natural  life.  This  Ned  could 
give  her  in  that  island  on  the  southern  seas.  And  how 
much  more?  Ye  gods!  how  much  more  of  love — true 
love,  and  tenderness  and  truth !  As  for  his  own  needs, 
they  were  simple,  being  summed  up  in  that  one  word — 


326 


A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 


Aura.  He  needed  her  every  instant  of  the  day  and  night. 
He  could  not  be  content  without  her.  Love  had  left  his 
body ;  it  had  invaded  his  mind ;  it  had  not  yet  touched  his 
soul.  The  personal  element  was  still  too  strong  for  him, 
so  by  degrees  he  had  brought  himself  to  believe  that  per- 
haps the  best  way  out  of  the  impasse  for  all  the  three 
actors  in  the  tragedy  would  be  for  him  to  beguile  her 
away — if  he  could. 

1 '  You  know  you  promised  me  last  year, ' '  he  reiterated. 

' '  Yes !  I  promised, ' '  she  said  sadly,  and  he  knew 
where  her  thoughts  had  fled.  He  used  to  see  her  so  often 
in  his  dreams,  wandering  through  great  drifts  of  purple 
iris,  the  flower  which  brings  the  messages  of  the  gods, 
leading  a  little  child  by  the  hand.  She  was  there  now, 
and  a  sudden  dread  came  over  him  again  lest  nothing 
short  of  that  would  ever  make  her  really  happy.  But 
the  next  moment  he  had  roused  himself.  ' '  I  should  love 
to  go,  of  course,"  she  went  on.  "  Fancy  seeing  Cwm- 
faernog  and  the  floor  of  heaven!  Only  I  can't,  can  I? 
till  Ted  returns,  and  that  may  be " 

' '  Never,  perhaps !  ' '  interrupted  Ned  sarcastically. 
"  He  hasn't  been  much  at  home  lately,  has  he?  " 

She  flushed  up  hastily.     "  Why  should  he  be?  he  is 

not  like  you — you  are  an  idle  man;  besides "  she 

paused,  her  pride  refusing  to  justify  her  husband  even 
to  Ned.  "  It  may  not  be  for  a  fortnight,"  she  went  on 
coldly ;  "he  never  can  tell.  And  by  that  time  the  hya- 
cinths will  be  over,  and  it  would  be  no  good.  So — so  it  is 
no  use  thinking  of  it. " 

But  her  very  readiness  in  the  self-defence  of  this  re- 
fusal to  blame  her  husband,  decided  him.  If  that  went 
on  much  longer,  the  tragedy  would  become  permanent. 
A  sudden  weariness  of  the  whole  foolish  muddle  seized  on 
him.  He  was  not  going  to  have  Aura  spend  her  days  in 
saintliness  and  martyrdom,  growing  more  and  more  dig- 
nified and  gracious,  more  and  more  motherly  in  the  look 
of  brimming  affection  she  never  failed  to  give  to  him — 
to  him  her  lover ! 

It  was  beyond  bearing.     He  would  break  down  the 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  327 

prison  walls  at  all  costs.  He  was  tired  to  death  himself 
of  civilisation ;  they  would  go  into  the  wilderness  and  be 
happy. 

"  I  will  ask  Mrs.  Ramsay  to  come  with  us,"  he  said, 
knowing  that  he  had  not  the  slightest  intention  of  so 
doing ;  but  if  he  was  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands, 
he  would  require  a  few  days  to  mature  his  plans. 

"  She  can't  come,"  he  said  two  days  afterwards;  "  she 
isn't  quite  up  to  it." 

Aura  looked  for  a  moment  as  if  she  were  back  in  the 
iris  fields.    "  I'm  sorry,"  she  began. 

"  But,"  went  on  Ned  coolly,  "  I  believe  I  could  take 
you  there  and  back  by  the  four-cylinder  Panhard  in  a  day 
— if  you  don't  mind  starting  rather  early.  Do  come.  I 
— I  want  a  holiday  too — badly. ' ' 

He  looked  like  it. 

"  Poor  Ned,"  she  said  softly,  for  she  had  begun  to 
realise  her  responsibilities  towards  him  also.  That  was 
the  worst  of  life;  the  great  hidden  tie  between  all 
creatures  could  so  seldom  be  felt  or  seen  until  some 
wound  stripped  the  quivering  flesh,  and  left  the  liga- 
ments bare.  ' '  Yes !  I  will  come, ' '  she  said  after  a  pause, 
making  up  her  mind  that  there,  standing  on  the  floor 
of  heaven,  she  would  try  and  make  him  understand  that 
she  was  worth  no  man's  passionate  love.  "  "When  shall 
we  go?  " 

Something  seemed  to  rise  in  his  throat  and  choke  him. 
* '  The  first  fine  day.  Shall  we  say  to-morrow  ?  But  we 
must  start  at  five;  and  breakfast  by  the  way." 

"  At  five!  "  she  echoed  joyously,  looking  more  like 
herself  than  she  had  done  for  months.  "  Oh  Ned!  how 
jolly!  I  haven't  been  up  at  five  for  ages  and  ages.  It 
disturbs  Ted  so— and  then,"  she  hurried  on—"  the  serv- 
ants loathe  it.  They  hate  you  to  know  how  late  they 
are. " 

She  was  ready  waiting  for  him,  with  quite  a  colour  in 
her  cheeks  when  he  drove  up.  It  was  a  delicious  morning, 
cool,  clear,  full  of  shafted  lights  and  shadows  from  the 
rising  sun.    Aura  tilted  back  her  head  triumphantly  and 


328  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

gazed  up  at  the  little  white  fleecy  clouds  that  were  drift- 
ing steadily  overhead  before  the  westerly  breeze. 

"I'm  not  going  to  look  at  anything  grimy  to-day," 
she  said  with  a  laugh;  "  and  even  Blackborough  can't 
soil  those !  They  are  too  gladly  far  away.  Do  you  know 
that  often  when  I've  nothing  else  to  comfort  me, 
I  lie  on  my  back  in  the  garden  and  dream  they  are  just 
feathers  out  of  a  great,  soft  pillow  where  I  am  finding 
rest!  " 

He  felt  a  pang  for  her  innocent  self-betrayal,  but  he 
retorted  gravely,  ' '  That  is  your  fault  for  not  being  con- 
tented with  a  good  civilised  wire-mattress. ' ' 

She  laughed  out  loud.  ' '  How  nice  of  you  to  talk  non- 
sense !  It  is  exactly  like  old  times ;  exactly !  ' '  she  cried. 
' '  Ned !  do  you  think  we  were  made  to  forget  f    I  don 't. ' ' 

' '  Some  things, ' '  he  said  soberly, ' '  are  best  forgotten. ' ' 

"  Not  many,"  she  replied  cheerfully.  "  Sometimes, 
Ned,  I  seem  to  get  at  the  meaning  of  so  much  by  remem- 
bering, and  then  I  see  how  all  these  little  lives  of  ours 
work  into  one  big  whole ;  and  then — and  then. ' '  She  was 
silent,  her  eyes  still  upon  the  clouds. 

"  If  her  Majesty  will  deign  to  look  upon  this  poor 
world, ' '  said  Ned  Blackborough  after  quite  a  long  while, 
1 '  she  will  see  primroses. ' ' 

They  were  beyond  the  grime.  The  skies  were  blue,  the 
trees,  the  grass  were  green,  and  far  away  the  distant  hills 
showed  purple  through  the  blossoming  apple  orchards. 

What  need  was  there  for  more  ? 

Not  once,  not  twice,  but  many  times  that  day,  as  the 
car  sped  almost  noiselessly  through  lanes  and  past  home- 
steads and  fields  where  the  lambs  lay  white  like  little 
clouds  dropped  from  heaven,  Ned  told  himself  joyfully 
that  this  was  but  the  beginning  of  an  end  which  would 
never  come. 

1 '  Why  are  you  putting  on  your  goggles  ?  ' '  she  asked, 
as,  by  the  low  road  round  the  coast — for  the  straight  hilly 
pitch  over  the  head  of  the  valley  was  too  bad  for  the 
motor — they  came  within  measurable  distance  of  Dinas. 

"  There  are  a  lot  of  slate  spiculae  on  the  road,"  he 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  329 

replied  coolly,  ' '  and  one  got  into  my  eye  once.  You  had 
better  put  on  a  veil  too.    I  brought  one  on  purpose." 

11  You  think  of  everything,  Ned,"  she  replied  gaily. 
"  I  never  knew  any  one  like  you." 

Except  Guy  Fawkes,  or  some  arch  traitor  of  that  sort, 
he  felt  with  a  pang;  but  one  had  to  take  precautions, 
and  if  you  set  yourself  up  as  a  Deus  ex  machina  to  get 
people  out  of  a  muddle — why,  some  mud  was  likely  to 
stick. 

So,  disguised  out  of  all  recognition,  they  swept  through 
the  village  of  Dinas,  and,  passing  the  staring  schoolhouse, 
took  the  turn  towards  Cwmf aernog. 

The  villagers  looked  after  them  with  slack  curiosity, 
for  Dinas  was,  as  it  had  always  been,  immersed  in  its 
own  trivialities.  The  revival  had  passed  away,  leaving 
its  traces  physical  and  mental  no  doubt,  but  ceasing  to 
bring  any  new  interest  into  life.  At  the  present  moment, 
however,  the  village  had  an  absorbing  interest  of  its  own ; 
for  in  two  days  time  the  Reverend  Hwf a  Williams  was  to 
marry  Alicia  Edwards,  and  all  the  other  young  women 
in  the  place  were  in  that  curious  state  of  mingled  spite- 
fulness  and  vicarious  nervous  excitability  which  a  wed- 
ding so  often  provokes  in  the  feminine  sex. 

"  They  will  not  find  any  one  at  Cwmf  aernog,  what- 
ever," said  Isaac  Edwards  at  his  door,  "  for  Martha  Bate 
and  her  husband  went  for  a  jaunt  the  day  before  yester- 
day. It  is  only  old  Evans  from  the  shepherd's  hut  that  is 
to  milk  the  cows  and  feed  the  cocks." 

Meanwhile  the  motor  sped  on,  curving  round  the  rocks. 

"  There  is  no  more  slate  here,  anyhow,"  cried  Aura 
joyfully,  tearing  off  her  veil.  ' '  Oh  Ned !  look,  look !  The 
floor  of  heaven  !    Ah !  do  stop  and  let  us  look. ' ' 

He  did  not  answer.  The  engine  slowed,  quivered,  sunk 
to  silence.  Now,  at  last,  he  understood.  Now  he  knew 
what  he  had  seen  in  the  boat  so  long  ago,  when  the  swift 
southern  storm  was  sweeping  up  unseen  behind  him. 
This  was  the  blue  mist  which  had  enveloped  him  and  held 
him.  A  blue  mist  hiding  the  earth,  hiding  even  every 
green  thing  from  sight  as  it  lay  in  wreaths  in  the  hoi- 


330  A    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

lows  or  crept  up  and  up  and  up,  leaving  itself  in  clouds 
to  cover  all  things  until  it  met  the  sky. 
The  floor  of  heaven  indeed ! 

Not  quite  so  blue  perhaps  as  that  distant  roof  of 
heaven  over  which  the  heat  of  the  day  had  spread  a 
faintly  violet  haze ;  but  still — the  floor  of  heaven ! 

No  other  words  expressed  it.  Here,  surely  the  angels 
of  God  might  tread  with  unsoiled  feet. 

"  Does  not  everything  of  earth  seem  to  fall  away," 
came  Aura 's  voice  all  hushed  and  quiet,  ' '  and  leave  one 
.  .  .  free  at  last !  ' ' 

She  was  out  of  the  car  standing,  her  sandalled  feet  just 
touching  the  carpet  of  hyacinths,  her  hands  stretched  out 
towards  them,  her  face  full  of  absolute  undimmed  joy. 
1 '  See !  ' '  she  continued, ' '  the  dear  things  grow  on  to  our 
very  path — we  won't  hurt  them,  will  we?  Let  us  walk 
on  to  the  house  and  see  Martha,  then  I  will  take  you 
through  a  path  in  the  woods  to  the  best  place  of  all." 
She  paused  and  looked  at  him  curiously.  ' '  Ned — what 
is  it  ?    Something  is  wrong !    What  is  it  ?  " 

1 '  There  is  nothing  wrong, ' '  he  answered  quietly,  ' '  and 
I  may  as  well  tell  you  here  as  elsewhere.  Martha  is  not  at 
the  house. ' ' 

She  paled  a  very  little. ' '  She  is  not  there, ' '  she  echoed ; 
"  why?  " 

"  Because  I  sent  her  away." 
* '  You  sent  her  away  ?  ' ' 

1 '  Yes !  because  I  wanted  to  be  alone  with  you — and — 
we  are  alone — alone  with  nothing  but  our  love  between  us 
— for  you  do  love  me  ?  Aura  !  "he  cried,  his  quiet  giving 
way  as  he  seized  her  hands  and  drew  her  towards  him. 
"  Why  should  we  go  back  to  all  the  grime — to  the  dull, 
useless,  foolish  life  ?  Come  with  me !  No  one  wants  us, 
no  one  will  miss  us,  not  even  Ted !  It  has  all  been  a  mis- 
take from  the  beginning.  There  is  but  one  way  to  set 
things  straight — to  leave  him  free  to  do  as  he  chooses — 

come " 

"  My  poor  Ned!  " 

She  stood  unresisting  before  him,  with  all  the  mother- 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  331 

hood  that  was  in  her,  looking  at  him  through  eyes  that 
brimmed  over  with  tears,  and  her  voice,  full  of  an  over- 
whelming pity,  smote  on  his  ears,  a  knell  to  all  his  hopes. 
He  knew  it,  he  felt  it  to  be  so  even  as  he  listened.  He 
let  her  hands  fall  with  a  sense  of  impotence  to  hold  her. 

"  It  is  my  fault,  dear,"  she  said  softly,  "  I  ought  to 
have  told  you — I  ought  to  have  made  you  understand. 
Ned!  I  am  worth  no  man's  love.    I  shall  never " 

He  interrupted  her  with  an  angry  impatient  laugh. 
' '  But  I  do  understand.  It  is  you  who  cannot  understand 
that  love  lives  untrammelled  by  such  trivialities.  Aura ! 
were  I  your  husband  now,  you  would  be  a  thousand 
times  more  dear — the  tie  between  us  would  be  a  thou- 
sand times  more  strong " 

' '  Hush !  ' '  she  said,  with  a  world  of  mysterious  solem- 
nity in  her  voice.  ' '  If  that  is  true,  Ned ;  if  love  really 
can  live  untrammelled  by  the  body,  why  should  it  not  live 
untrammelled  by  the  mind  %    You  want  to  see  me,  to  hear 

me,  to — to  touch  me — perhaps !    But Ned !    There  is 

something  that  is  beyond  all  this — that  is  beyond  every- 
thing— beyond  you  and  me,  and  yet  it  is  you  and  I — that 

is  ours  now "     Suddenly  her  tone  rose  swift  and 

sharp — "  Come,  Ned !  let  us  forget  the  rest is  this  not 

enough?  " 

He  looked  around  him  and,  even  amid  such  transcen- 
dental beauty  as  was  there,  shook  his  head.  ' '  I  cannot 
live  on  air,  Aura, ' '  he  said  bitterly.    ' '  No  man  can. ' ' 

Her  face  melted  into  gentle  smiles.  "  There  is  the 
lunch-basket, ' '  she  said. 

He  turned  aside  almost  with  a  curse.  "  It  is  easy  to 
laugh,"  he  began. 

"  Is  it  so  easy?  "  she  asked,  and  once  again  her  voice 
brought  to  him  that  sense  of  infinite  pity,  infinite  denial. 
' '  Then  let  us  laugh,  Ned,  while  we  can.  Come,  let  us  lose 
ourselves.  Oh  Ned!  give  me  one  day  unspotted  by  the 
world,  untouched  by  trivialities,  just  this  one  day !  ' ' 

And  as  she  took  his  hand,  the  glamour,  not  of  this 
world,  but  of  that  which  lies  hidden  beyond  it,  above  it, 
claimed  possession  of  his  soul.    The  blue  mist  closed  in  on 


332  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

them.    They  stood  on  the  floor  of  heaven  with  the  sky 
above  them. 

Down  in  the  hollows  with  the  silken  fans  of  the  half- 
opened  beech-leaves  overhead,  a  saffron-coloured  azalea 
dropping  its  gold  upon  the  blue,  the  pink  campion  strug- 
gling for  a  place  amongst  the  blossoms,  a  tuft  of  white 
poet's-narcissus  looking  up  from  the  pool  of  water  into 
which  a  scarce-seen  runlet  dripped  and  dropped.  What 
colour !    What  almost  unimaginable  beauty. 

Out  in  the  open,  in  a  cup  in  the  hills  where  the  carpet 
of  heaven-blue  hyacinths  dwarfed  into  closer  growth 
showed  like  a  shadowy  cloud  against  the  clearer  blue  of 
the  sky.    What  dreamfulness !    What  peace ! 

Away  on  the  springing  heather  on  the  mountain-top, 
with  half  Wales  spread  before  you,  and  the  westering  sun 
obscured  by  just  such  a  shadowy  cloud,  sending  a  great 
sloping  corona  of  light  rays  to  nestle  in  the  dimples  of 
the  hills,  and  shine  in  shafted  reflections  on  the  distant 
sea. 

What  visions  of  unending  space,  of  ceaseless  life ! 

11  Is  it  not  time  %  ' '  she  said  at  last  as  they  sat  in  the 
sheep-shelter. 

The  sun  was  beginning  to  sink  in  the  west  calmly,  se- 
renely. The  light  shone  round  them,  purest  gold.  Down 
in  the  valley,  the  blue  hyacinth  mist  grew  darker,  colder. 

' '  Yes !    It  is  time, ' '  he  said  quietly. 

"  It  has  been  quite  perfect,"  she  said  again. 

"  Almost  perfect,"  he  assented;  after  all  he  was  but 
human,  and  humanity  does  not  live  by  sight  alone.  It 
craves  to  touch  also. 

The  motor  was  awaiting  them  where  they  had  left  it. 

She  laid  her  hand  on  his  for  a  second  ere  he  started  it. 

1 '  Say  it  has  been  quite  perfect,  Ned, ' '  she  pleaded. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  333 

He  looked  at  her  and  smiled.  "  I  will  not  say  it— you 
can  say  it  for  me. ' ' 

She  was  silent  for  a  moment  and  then  she  spoke. 
"  It  has  been  quite  perfect!  " 

The  motor  sped  on,  the  mist  wreaths  of  the  hyacinths 
grew  dulled  by  young  green  sprouting  ferns,  and  the 
rocks  closed  in  for  the  swift  turn  by  the  school.  The  chil- 
dren were  already  out,  and  a  group  of  them  were  playing 
on  the  road.  They  scattered,  leaving  it  clear.  And  then, 
suddenly,  from  the  shadow  of  the  parapet-wall  a  little 
toddling  child,  escaping  from  the  hand  of  its  wide-eyed 
curiosity-struck  elder,  lurched  out  into  the  open. 

"  Oh  Ned !    Take  care— the  child— the  child !  " 

Aura  stood  up,  and  in  Ned's  sudden  swerve  inwards, 
an  overhanging  root  from  the  high  rocky  bank  above 
struck  her  full  upon  the  temple. 

The  child,  shrieking  more  from  joyous  excitement  than 
fear,  lurched  back  with  outstretched  arms  to  the  shadow ; 
but  Aura  sank  back,  her  head  resting  on  Ned 's  shoulder. 

1 '  My  God !  Aura !  ' '  he  cried.  There  was  no  answer. 
He  did  not  stop  the  car,  but  sweeping  it  round  the  open 
space  by  the  school,  raced  back  to  Cwmfaernog.  There, 
he  knew,  all  was  ready  for  her  reception,  there  everything 
would  be  to  hand.  As  he  sped  through  the  misty  blue 
cloud  once  more,  he  saw  nothing  of  it.  His  eyes  were  on 
her  whitening  face. 

Dear  God !  How  limp  she  felt,  as  he  lifted  her  in  his 
arms  and  carried  her  across  the  drawbridge,  and  so 
through  the  garden  to  the  house.  A  scent  of  violets  and 
primroses,  of  lilies  of  the  valley,  of  all  things  sweet  as- 
sailed him  as  he  entered  the  door  that  was  only  latched. 
He  had  brought  the  flowers  when  he  had  come  down  se- 
cretly to  see  that  all  things  were  prepared.  He  had 
brought  them  for  her !  And  the  table  set  out  with  flowers 
and  fruit — that  was  for  her  also. 

He  stumbled  up  the  stairs  with  his  heavy  burden  to  her 
room.  He  had  not  entered  that.  He  had  only  climbed 
once  more  to  her  window-sill  to  set  it  abloom  with  white 


334  A-   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

and  purple  iris — the  messengers  of  the  gods.  How  they 
mocked  him  now  with  their  tale  of  immortality.  His 
mind  went  back  to  many  a  Kashmir  grave  which  he  had 
seen,  long  and  narrow  like  the  sill  set  as  thick  with  irises, 
high  upon  the  hills,  low  amongst  the  dales. 

But  she  could  not  be  dead ! 

Yet  her  head  lay  on  the  pillow  just  as  it  had  touched  it, 
her  arm  slipping  from  his  support  sank,  till  it  could  sink 
no  more. 

"  Aura!  "  he  muttered  faintly,  "  Aura!  " 

He  knelt  and  laid  his  ear  to  her  heart — oh!  sweetest 
resting-place  in  all  the  world ! 

There  was  no  sound,  no  beat.    Yes !  she  was  dead ! 

He  turned  his  face  round  into  the  soft  pillow  of  her 
breast  and  whispered  * '  Aura. ' '  It  seemed  to  him  as  on 
that  midsummer  night  when  he  had  first  met  her,  as  if 
all  the  world  were  wailing  ' '  Aura !  Aura !  ' ' 

How  long  he  knelt  there  he  scarcely  knew;  a  faint 
sense  of  sound  in  the  house  roused  him  to  the  remem- 
brance that  something  must  be  done. 

He  must  call  for  help.  But  if  he  did  that,  every  one 
must  know  that  she  was  here  with  him  alone.  The  world 
would  judge,  and  what  would  that  judgment  reck  of  her 
spotlessness  or  his  forbearance  ?  No !  that  must  not  be, 
if  he  could  compass  otherwise. 

His  mind,  almost  unhinged  by  the  terrible  shock,  chased 
possibility  through  a  thousand  impossibilities,  the  least 
grotesque  of  these  being  a  grave  of  his  own  digging 
amongst  the  hyacinths ;  his  subsequent  flight  being  easy, 
since  he  had  made  all  arrangements  for  a  sudden  disap- 
pearance. 

Was  that  a  noise  below — a  faint  creak  on  the  stairs? 
The  possibility  troubled  him.  He  crossed  to  the  door,  and 
opened  it  to  find  himself  confronted  by  Ted  Cruttenden, 
his  face  distorted  by  passion. 

"  You  scoundrel!  "  he  cried.  "  You— you  infernal 
scoundrel — where  is  Aura — my  wife?  " 

His  very  vehemence,  his  very  lack  of  self  restraint, 
brought  back  Ned  Blackborough's  wandering  wits.    He 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  335 

closed  the  door  behind  him,  and  stood  with  his  back 
to  it. 

1 '  She  is— not  there, ' '  he  said  slowly.  ' '  Ted !  listen  for 
one  moment.    I  brought  her  here " 

"  Do  you  think  I  don't  know  that,  you  damned  vil- 
lain," burst  out  Ted—4'  when  I  came  home  this  morning 
and  found  you  had  taken  her — there  was  some  cock-and- 
bull  story  the  servants  had  about  not  sitting  up  for  her, 
and  a  latch-key  and  all  that  rot— do  you  think  I  was  fool 
enough  not  to  understand — I've  never  really  trusted  you. 
And  now— and  now— let  me  pass  in,  I  say,  or  there'll  be 
murder  done." 

"  Listen  one  moment "  the  voice  was  inexorable. 

"  You  never  trusted  me.  I  know  that.  Have  you  not 
trusted  her?  Are  you  fool  enough  to  have  lived  day  and 
night  with  her,  to  have  lain  with  your  head  upon  her 
breast — and  not  known — No !  it  is  impossible.  You  know 
what  she  is — you  must — you  do  know  it " 

Even  to  Ted  Cruttenden's  mad  jealousy,  memory  could 
bring  no  fuel  to  feed  the  flame ;  his  very  anger  sank  for 
the  moment  to  self-pity. 

"  I  come  home,"  he  muttered,  "  I  find  her  gone.  I 
follow.    I  have  walked  over  the  hill  to " 

<<  To — spy   upon   us "   interrupted   Ned   sternly, 

"goon." 

"  To  spy  upon  you  if  you  will,"  cried  Ted,  his  passion 
rising  again—"  and  I  find  you  here,  in  her  room " 

Ned  opened  the  door  behind  him  quietly.  "  Because 
she  is  dead,"  he  said,  and  leaning  against  the  lintel,  his 
head  upon  his  arm,  waited. 

"Dead!  " 

The  whisper  reached  him  from  within  full  almost  of 
fear ;  and  there  was  a  long  empty  silence. 

"  You  will  not  say  I  killed  her,  I  suppose,"  said  Ned 
bitterly  at  last.     "  It  was  an  accident.    We  were  going 

back— back  to  you "    The  very  wonder  of  that  fact 

stayed  speech ;  but  he  knew  he  must  go  on.  "I  am  quite 
ready  to  let  you  shoot  me,  by  and  by,  but  at  present — I — I 
want  you  to  think  of  her— of  yourself.    I  don't  count.    I 


336  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

need  count  any  more.  But  we  must  be  quick  about  it.  As 
I  stand  before — before  Something  that  is  mightier  than  I, 
I  swear  to  you  that  I  have  done  you  no  harm.  We  won't 
go  into  the  other  question  as  to  what  harm  you  have  done 
me.  And  for  her — you  know.  But — but  even  if  we  had, 
what  use  is  there  now,  in  making  a  fuss  in  letting  the 
world  know  that  you  have  found  her  there — with  me. 
Not  a  soul  knows  I  am  here.  You  can  take  my  place,  as 
you  have  taken  it  before.  I  can  go,  as  I  have  gone 
before." 

From  within,  where  Ted  Cruttenden  stood  beside  the 
bed,  vaguely  remorseful  at  his  own  lack  of  anything  save 
anger,  horror,  regret,  no  answer  came. 

"  Ted,"  went  on  Lord  Blackborough,  "  you  must  de- 
cide. I  can  go  the  way  you  came,  and  you  can  call  for 
help.  It  must  be  done  at  once.  I'll  tell  you  how  it  hap- 
pened so  that  you  may  know.  We  got  here  about  noon. 
We  didn't  go  into  the  house.    We  were — we  were  in  the 

woods  and  on  the  hills "  his  voice  failed  a  little,  then 

grew  monotonous.  ' '  She  said  it  was  time  to  go,  and  I — 
I  was  a  fool !  I  said  so  too.  Just  at  the  corner  by  the 
school,  a  child,  a  little  child,  ran  in  front  of  the  car.  She 
— she  called  out — and  rose.  There  was  a  root — oh !  Curse 
the  damned  thing — it  struck  her  as  I  swerved.  It  has  left 
a  little  blue  mark — you  can  see  it  on  her  temple  if  you 
look.  She  never  spoke.  I  brought  her  back.  She  was 
dead." 

"  You  say  you  didn't  kill  her,"  burst  out  Ted,  his 
voice  now  full  of  crude  anger,  grief,  hate,  ' '  but  you  did. 
You  brought  her  here. ' ' 

"  Is  there  any  use  in  recriminations,"  asked  Ned 
wearily,  "  you  have  to  decide.  And,  after  all,  she — she 
was  no  wife  for  you — you  are  young  yet "  Ted  lis- 
tening, cursed  him  for  repeating  the  inward  thought  that 
had  forced  itself  into  his  mind.    ' '  You  have  all  the  world 

before  you — and "  for  an  instant  the  voice  hesitated 

as  if  ashamed,  uncertain,  then  went  on.  "I  had  made 
out  a  deed  of  gift  to  you  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds.    It  is  about  all  I  have  left,  and  the  works  and  all 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  337 

that  must  go  to  the  heir,  you  know.  You  see  I  meant  to 
disappear,  and  I  meant  to  take  your  wife, — so  this  was 
just  payment.  It  can  be  just  payment  still.  I  shall  not 
trouble  you  again.    But — but  you  must  decide  at  once." 

He  stood  waiting  for  a  moment  or  two,  his  head  rest- 
ing as  before  upon  his  upraised  arm  upon  the  lintel ;  then 
he  heard  a  step,  and  lifted  his  eyes  to  check  what  he  knew 
all  too  well  would  come  from  Ted's  lips.  Did  he  not  know 
it  ?  Was  it  not  the  answer  of  the  world  where  everything 
even  honour  had  its  price?  And  was  it  not  far  better, 
far  wiser  ?    Was  it  not  what  he  himself  desired  ? 

"  You  will  find  the  motor  by  the  bridge,"  he  said 
quietly.  ' '  You  had  better  call  some  one  from  the  village 
first,  and  then  the  doctor.  The  children  will  give  evi- 
dence, some  of  them  were  quite  big,  and  no  one  at  New 
Park  knows  anything.  Good-bye?  I  shan't  see  you 
again." 

When  Ted  had  gone,  he  closed  the  door,  went  down- 
stairs, gathered  up  the  tell-tale  flowers  and  fruits  which 
he  had  brought,  climbed  to  the  window-sill  and  removed 
the  iris,  so,  putting  them  all  into  a  basket,  went  back  to 
the  woods. 

Before  the  car  returned  with  its  first  consignment  of 
help,  the  misty-blue  wreaths  of  the  hyacinths,  darkening 
with  the  dusk,  had  hidden  him. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

He  roused  himself,  for  the  night  was  passing.  The  last 
twinkling  lights — the  lights  which  he  had  been  almost — 
unconsciously  watching  in  the  valley  below  him— had 
gone. 

But  one  steady  star  remained.  That  came  from  the 
room  where  she  lay  dead.  It  seemed  incredible.  Such 
sudden  endings  to  all  things  came  into  life  sometimes,  of 
course ;  still  why  should  they  come  into  his  ?  It  was  un- 
fair. He  risked  everything  on  this  one  stake.  Bit  by 
bit  he  had  given  up  everything  else.  He  had  chased  love 
to  the  outside  edge  of  the  world,  and  now — it  had  gone 
over  the  verge. 

He  stood  up  and  stretched  himself,  wondering  vaguely 
how  he  had  passed  the  last  few  hours.  He  had  slept  for 
a  while,  he  knew.  That  was  at  the  beginning,  after  he 
had  gone  down  to  the  hollow  where  they  had  sat  together, 
and  where  he  had  planted  the  iris  by  the  side  of  the  nar- 
cissus which  was  too  proud  to  look  for  its  fellow  in  the 
earth-bounded  pool  at  its  feet.  It  had  amused  him — yes ! 
positively  amused  him — to  dig  holes  for  the  bulbs  with  his 
pen-knife,  and  make  a  grave — long  and  narrow  like  the 
window-sill — just  such  a  grave  as  he  remembered  on  hill 
and  dale  at  Kashmir.  And  it  was  not  an  empty  grave 
either ;  for  he  had  buried  in  it  the  violets  and  the  prim- 
roses, the  lilies  of  the  valley  and  all  things  sweet. 

In  that  first  hour  he  must  have  been  almost  crazy  with 
grief. 

But  then,  he  remembered,  he  had  lain  down  half -hidden 
by  the  hyacinths,  dog-tired  in  mind  and  body  to  sleep  a 
dreamless  sleep.  Then  he  had  come  and  watched  the 
lights  until  it  should  be  dark  enough  for  the  night  to 
bring  disguise. 

338 


A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY  339 

Now  it  had  come,  and  it  was  time  to  be  going. 

Whither? 

As  if  that  mattered!  He  had  come  prepared  for 
a  secret  journey,  and  there  was  a  hundred  pounds  odd  in 
his  pocket.  The  thought  made  him  smile  bitterly.  So  far 
as  outward  circumstances  stood,  he  was  in  exactly  the 
same  position  as  he  had  been  two  years  ago  when  he  and 
Ted  had  first  met  in  a  bicycle  smash.  In  exactly  the 
same  position  since  what  was  there  to  prevent  his  turning 
up  at  New  Park  in  a  few  days,  and  resuming  his  life  as 
Lord  Blackborough?  There  was  nothing  to  prevent  it 
since  the  deed  of  gift  could  stand,  of  course ;  nothing  but 
his  utter  weariness.    It  would  be  better  to  start  afresh. 

He  looked  at  his  watch.  Yes !  it  was  time  he  was  off. 
He  would  walk  down  the  coast  road  to  Pot-af on ;  thence 
take  the  cargo  steamer  to  Liverpool.  All  roads  meet 
there.  He  would  go  off  to  the  wilds  somewhere,  and  after 
a  year  if — if  nothing  changed — he  could  easily  fabricate 
his  own  death,  and  let  the  heir  come  into  what  he  did  not 
want. 

He  set  off  for  his  night  walk  cheerfully  enough.  The 
glamour  of  that  past  day  was  upon  him  still,  he  seemed  to 
hear  her  voice  saying  for  him  "  It  has  been  quite  per- 
fect. ' '  In  reality  those  had  been  her  last  words,  since  the 
cry  "  the  child!  the  child!  "  had  been  wrung  from  her 
by  chance — by  one  of  the  unhappy  chances  and  changes 
of  this  most  unhappy  world. 

1 '  It  has  been  quite  perfect. "  Ay !  perhaps,  but  in  the 
past  tense.    What  of  the  present  ? 

He  paused  at  the  bridge  below  the  village  where  the 
mountain  stream  joined  the  river  Afon.  to  look  down  to 
the  still  pool  below  the  arch. 

In  the  moonlight  it  looked  very  quiet.  One  might  sleep 
there  without  dreams  if  people  would  only  leave  one 
alone,  but  they  would  not.  He  leant  over  the  parapet  and 
smiled  at  the  oddness  of  one  hive  of  swarming  atoms,  ob- 
jecting to  another  hive  of  atoms  choosing  the  hollow  of 
a  pool  wherein  to  rest,  interfering  to  fish  it  up  and  put  it 
somewhere  else  in  order  to  disintegrate  into  atoms  again. 


340  4   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

And  after  the  atoms?  There  lay  the  question.  The 
atom  and  the  human  consciousness?  Were  not  both  an 
equal  mystery  born  of  the  unity  beyond  ? 

As  he  stood  there  absorbed  in  thought  the  sound  of 
rapid  footsteps  echoed  down  the  steep  road  from  Dinas 
and,  not  wishing  to  be  seen,  he  stepped  back  at  once  into 
the  shadow  of  a  tree  that  overhung  the  bridge.  Looking 
up  the  roadway  he  saw  a  woman's  figure.  She  was  run- 
ning swiftly  with  a  curious  unevenness,  a  curious  uncer- 
tainty, yet  evidently  with  some  set  purpose.  As  she 
passed  him  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  face,  and — mere 
hive  of  atoms  though  he  was — he  started  after  her  in  a 
second. 

None  too  soon  either!  He  had  just  had  hold  of  her 
in  time,  as  she  wavered  for  an  instant  on  the  parapet. 

1 '  You  young  fool !  ' '  he  said  roughly.  ' '  What 's  the 
matter  ?    What  are  you  doing  that  for  ?  ' ' 

The  girl — she  did  not  look  more  than  twenty — stared  at 
him  vacantly  as  if  she  did  not  understand  what  he  meant, 
then  with  a  little  cry  of  horror  apparently  at  herself, 
covered  her  face  with  her  hands,  and  crouched  down  be- 
neath his  touch  in  a  perfect  storm  of  sobs. 

' '  Don 't  cry !  ' '  he  said  more  kindly,  ' '  What  is  it  all 
about  ?    What  were  you  going  to  do  ?  " 

"  I — I  don't  know,"  she  wept.  "  It — it  came  upon 
me  suddenly  that  it  was  the  only  way — it  swept  me 
off  my  feet — oh !  wicked,  wicked  girl  that  I  am — if — if  it 
hadn't  been  for  vou — Oh!  what  shall  I  do?  What  shall 
I  do?" 

"  What's  wrong?  "  he  asked,  impatient  at  her  helpless 
emotion.  ' l  Anything  I  can  help  ?  Come !  it's  no  use  cry- 
ing. Of  course  you  're  a  wicked  girl,  but  as  you  evidently 
don 't  really  want  to  kill  yourself  you  '11  have  to  live.  So 
you  had  better  make  a  clean  breast  of  it.    I  daresay  I  can 

help — if  it  isn't "     Her  face  looked  innocent  and 

pure,  still  one  never  could  tell.  ' '  Come — out  with  it  ' ' — 
he  went  on — "  If  it's  anything  about  money " 

She  caught  at  the  word.  ' '  Money !  Oh !  if  I  could 
only  get  the  money/ '  she  wailed. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  341 

1 '  Come !  ' '  he  said  with  a  smile,  '  *  if  it  is  only 
money " 

So  by  degrees  she  told  him  her  name  was  Alicia  Ed- 
wards. She  was  the  happiest,  luckiest  girl  in  the  world, 
who  was  to  be  married  in  two  days  to  the  man  she  loved 
— to  a  saint  upon  earth.  And  she  bore  an  unblemished 
character.  And  her  father  was  also  a  saint  upon  earth. 
But  that  very  evening  by  the  post  had  come — not  a  bolt 
from  the  blue — for  she  had  had  an  awful  prescience  that 
it  would  come,  though  who  would  have  thought  that  My- 
fanwy  would  be  so  cruel,  and  she  just  married  to  the 
man  she  loved !  Oh !  it  was  wicked !  A  bill,  and  such  a 
bill  too!  A  hundred  and  three  pounds;  and  if  it  was 
not  paid  for  at  once  it  would  be  sent.  Oh !  she  would  go 
mad  with  shame. 

"  What  was  it  for?  "  asked  Ned,  wearily  good-natured. 

"  That  is  it,"  wailed  poor  Alicia,  "  it  is  for  hats  and 
dresses.  And  I  ought  to  have  paid.  And  what  am  1,  a 
minister's  wife,  to  ask  him  to  pay  such  bills.  And  my 
father  will  not.  What  am  I  to  do  ?  If  I  was  a  bad  girl 
it  would  be  nothing ;  but  I  am  good,  so  very  good  !  I  can- 
not face  them  saying  I  am  bad. ' ' 

"  They  would  have  said  you  were  mad,  I  suppose,  if 
you  had  jumped  from  the  bridge  just  now,"  said  Ned 
grimly. 

Alicia  looked  at  him  furtively  and  wept  again. 

What  a  world  it  was,  thought  Ned  bitterly.  Here  was 
a  well-educated,  deeply-religious  girl  occupied  entirely 
in  thinking  what  her  neighbours  would  say  of  her ;  those 
neighbours  who,  in  a  way,  were  as  responsible  as  she. 
For  was  not  humanity,  as  a  whole,  responsible  for  all 
the  deeds  of  humanity.  Was  he  not,  in  a  way,  responsible 
for  his  own  birth,  being  as  he  was,  but  the  outcome  of  his 
forefathers?  Virtue  and  vice,  honour  and  dishonour, 
wTere  they  not  all  hidden  in  that  first  Step  of  dancing 
Prakrit  ?  So  there  came  to  him  for  once  a  great  humility, 
a  patient  acceptance  of  all  the  evil  in  the  world  as  being 
part  of  himself. 

"  I  will  give  you  the  money,  child,"  he  said;  "  you 


342  ^    SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

shall  marry  the  saint  and  be  a  saint  yourself — why 
not?  " 

"  I  can't — I  can't  take  it,"  she  muttered,  for  all  that 
holding  fast  to  the  purse  he  gave  her;  "  I  can't  take  it 
from  a  stranger." 

"  A  stranger?  "  he  echoed.  "  Bah!  In  the  beginning, 
little  girl,  you  and  I  were  one.  Remember  that  in  all 
your  little  life.  As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and 
ever  shall  be,  world  without  end — Amen !  ' ' 

He  stooped  and  kissed  her  as  he  left  her  at  her  father's 
door,  and  she  stood  looking  after  him,  wondering  if  he 
were  indeed  a  man  or  a  vision.  But  the  money  was  there. 
A  hundred  pounds  in  notes  and  three  sovereigns.  She 
would  send  them  by  the  morning's  post  to  Myfanwy 
Pugh,  and  then 

Alicia  Edwards  fell  on  her  knees  beside  her  bed  and 
thanked  God  for  the  money. 

Meanwhile  Ned  Blackborough  had  paused  to  re-make 
his  plans  in  his  new  condition  of  pennilessness ;  for  he 
had  but  a  few  shillings  left  for  the  immediate  present. 
Afterwards  there  was  money  and  to  spare  awaiting  him 
at  various  points  on  the  route  which  he  had  carefully  pre- 
pared for  flight.    Still  he  must  first  get  to  a  point. 

Then  the  remembrance  of  the  hundred  pounds  he  had 
hidden  away  in  the  cleft  of  the  rock  up  on  the  hills  came 
to  him,  making  him  laugh;  because  there  was  no  ques- 
tion now  as  to  who  needed  it.  He  came  back  to  it  a  beg- 
gar; beggared,  indeed,  of  all  save  life.  Yet  life  was  all. 
The  words  of  the  Indian  sage  came  back  to  him :  — 

"  Indestructible  the  life  is,  spreading  life  thro'  all. 
I  say  to  Thee  weapons  reach  not  the  life. 
Flame  burns  it  not,  waters  cannot  overwhelm 
Nor  dry  winds  wither  it.     Impenetrable, 
Unentered,  unassailed,  unharmed,  untouched, 
Immortal,  all  arriving,  stable,  sure, 
Thus  is  the  Life  declared." 

Vaguely  he  felt  comforted.  The  sense  of  Unity  lay 
around  him  in  the  air.    He  saw  the  Golden  Gateway.    He 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  343 

knew  that  its  Door  was  open.  But  his  love  kept  him  from 
entering.  He  could  yield  himself  without  one  sigh  to 
the  Beginning  that  was  the  End,  but  he  could  not  yield 
her,  for  he  had  not  yet  realised  that  she  also  was  the  Be- 
ginning, the  End. 

The  dawn  was  just  breaking  as  he  reached  the  gap,  and 
searching  in  the  cleft  found  nothing. 

Was  he  glad,  or  was  he  sorry?  He  was  not  sure.  In 
a  way  he  felt  more  free,  since  he  need  now  have  no 
plans  for  the  future.  He  could  sit  down  and  watch  the 
sun  rise.  After  that  he  could  walk  over  Llwydd-y- 
Bryd  to  the  coastline  by  the  country  town,  and  so  — 
anywhere ! 

This  was  sufficient,  surely,  for  the  moment. 

The  sun  rose  in  a  panoply  of  purple  and  red  with,  low 
down  above  the  hills,  a  band  or  two  of  torquoise  blue  to 
hint  of  the  vast  fields  of  calm  ether  beyond  the  storm 
clouds  of  the  world. 

1 '  Aura !  Aura !  Aura !  ' ' 

Even  there,  to  the  far,  unending  depths,  the  cry  echoed. 
A  cry  apart,  poignant  with  individual  anguish. 

He  started  up  and  moved  on.  The  staghorn  moss 
trailed  clinging  to  the  soil  beneath  his  feet,  a  hawk  hover- 
ing in  the  air  was  held  to  its  place  also  by  the  same  force 
which  sent  the  world  on  which  he  stood,  spinning  on  its 
way.  But  still  that  love,  that  grief  of  his.  would  not  be 
made  one  with  Nature. 

"  Aura!     Aura!     Aura!  " 

He  stood  on  the  summit  of  Llydd-y-Bryd  once  more. 
Even  the  ' '  gingerbeer  ' '  had  gone  from  the  shieling  now ; 
but  it  would  not  be  long  before  humanity  returned  once 
more  with  placard  and  paste-pot  to  appropriate  the  spot 
to  base  uses. 

Down  in  the  blue  hollow  yonder  lay  Cwmfaernog,  and 
in  Cwmfaernog  lay — no!  not  Aura!  Aura  was  of  the 
woods  and  hills.  He  could  feel  her  in  them  separate,  dis- 
tinct from  himself.  He  would  not  give  her  up ;  he  could 
not.  He  would  give  one  more  look  at  the  peaceful  little 
valley  from  the  crag  yonder,  and  then  take  her  with  him ; 


344  A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

something  he  would  not  yield,  not  even  to  the  Force  which 
held  the  round  world  sure. 

The  round  world  perhaps — but — ye  Gods ! 

His  foot  slipped,  he  caught  at  a  root  to  save  himself, 
it  gave  way — he  fell. 

The  hot  noon-tide  sun  was  beating  down  on  him  when 
he  woke  to  consciousness  again.  He  tried  to  move,  and 
could  not.  After  a  time  his  mind  returned  clearly;  he 
pinched  himself  upon  the  thigh  and  felt  nothing.  That, 
then,  was  the  reason  why  he  felt  no  pain,  for  one  of  his 
legs  was  evidently  broken.  He  had  injured  his  spine,  and 
it  was  paralysed  below  the  waist.  This,  then,  was  the 
end. 

' '  Aura !    Aura !  ' ' 

His  heart  leapt  up  in  him.    It  could  not  be  long  now. 

He  was  lying  in  the  corrie  into  which  he  and  Ted  had 
vainly  tried  to  get  that  first  night  of  the  storm,  and  as 
he  lay  he  could  watch  the  sun  tilt  from  its  high  glory  in 
the  heavens,  to  touch  the  world  in  the  west  then  disap- 
pear. It  would  be  a  beautiful  sunset.  How  many  more 
would  he  see,  he  wondered.  How  long  would  it  last? 
Some  days  perhaps. 

How  idle  all  things — money,  happiness,  even  love  itself 
seemed  beside  this  certainty  of  leaving  them  all.  The 
only  thing  that  money  had  brought  to  him  was  the  death 
of  a  wild  animal — thank  God ! — alone !    Except  for  Aura. 

Aura !    Aura !    Aura ! 

Yes !  she  had  been  right.  Love  like  his  needed  nothing. 
It  could  exist — nay!  grow  to  greater  strength  without 
trivialities.  They  were  beyond  the  Shadow  of  the  Night 
now;  nothing  could  touch  them  again.  They  would  go 
on  and  on.  .  .  . 

That  night  he  slept  a  little  under  the  stars,  and  in  his 
dreams  he  saw  her  walking  amid  the  drifts  of  iris  leading 
a  little  child  by  the  hand.  Her  face  was  sad,  and  as  he 
tried  to  comfort  her,  his  eyes  opened ;  and  lo !  it  was  dawn 
once  more. 

A  primrose  dawn,  with  little  faint,  far  grey  clouds 
just  flecking  the  wide  waste  of  gold. 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  345 

"  It  was  quite  perfect." 

Her  words  came  back  to  him.  She  was  wrong.  The 
part  could  not  be  perfect,  and  what  were  they,  their 
griefs,  their  joys,  their  loves,  but  part  of  the  great  whole. 

His  mind  was  beginning  to  wander  a  little,  and  in  the 
high  noon  tide  he  slept  to  dream  that  he  saw  the  little 
child  alone.  Her  head  was  crowned  with  iris  flowers,  her 
feet  were  among  them,  her  eyes  were  violet  and  white  as 
they  were.  They  looked  into  his.  "  Mother  says  you 
have  no  right, ' '  came  her  childish  voice.  ' '  I  am  the  im- 
mortality of  the  race.  Die  and  forget  her.  Die  and  for- 
get all  things." 

When  he  awoke,  a  raven,  perched  on  a  rock  hard  by, 
cawed  hoarsely,  and  flapped  lazily  away  to  watch  from 
a  greater  distance. 

A  few  drops  of  water  trickled  from  the  rock  close  be- 
side him.  He  had  hollowed  out  a  little  cup  for  it  with  his 
hand  and  drank  of  it  from  time  to  time.  Now  he  poured 
some  of  it  on  his  head  which  had  begun  to  ache.  What 
use  was  there  in  prolonging  the  agony?  The  sooner  it 
was  over  the  better.  He  searched  in  his  pockets  for  any 
scrap  of  paper  which  might  betray  him,  and,  tearing 
them  up,  dug  them  toilfully  into  the  ground,  almost  amus- 
ing himself  in  restoring  the  spot  to  perfect  homogeneity 
with  its  surroundings. 

His  gold  signet  ring  he  flung  away  into  the  little  pool, 
which,  collecting  the  surface  drainage  of  the  very  sum- 
mit, brimmed  up  below  the  rock  to  overflow  in  a  tiny 
stream.  He  tried  to  make  a  duck  and  drake  of  it  as  his 
last  contribution  to  the  sovereign  remedy,  but  he  failed, 
and  he  smiled  at  his  failure. 

He  was  becoming  very  much  detached,  even  from  him- 
self, and  the  one  thing  to  which  he  clung  was  the  memory 
of  his  love. 

Aura !    Aura !    Aura ! 

He  must  find  her  somewhere ;  and  she  seemed  so  close ! 
Sometimes  he  wondered  if  she  were  not  there,  in  his  eyes, 
in  his  heart. 

"  Aura,"  he  murmured  to  himself;  "  Aura!  " 


346  '   A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY 

That  night  he  slept  dreamlessly.  And  when  he  opened 
his  eyes,  lo !  there  was  a  Sea  of  Light.  The  great  shining 
arch  of  the  sky  seemed  to  him  the  golden  gate ;  the  open 
door  lay  behind  him.  He  was  on  the  other  side.  He  had 
found  himself  and  her  as  they  had  been  always,  not  as  a 
part  but  as  the  whole. 

"  Tad  eh  am,"  he  thought,  realising  with  a  rush  that 
He  was  All  Things,  and  that  All  Things  were  in  Him. 
So,  as  he  lay  gazing,  the  round  sun  rose  gloriously,  and 
he  sank  into  unconsciousness. 


When  he  awoke  it  was  to  find  himself  in  a  work-house 
infirmary;  a  long,  bare  room  set  in  a  straight  row  with 
beds.  Some  hive  of  atoms  must  have  found  him  on  the 
mountain-top  and  brought  him  to  die  here.  Well!  it 
could  not  be  for  long.  There  was  a  black  screen  folded 
up,  ready  for  use,  at  the  foot  of  the  bed.  He  knew  what 
that  meant;  but  nothing  seemed  to  matter  now  that  he 
had  passed  the  open  door  to  lose  and  find  Himself. 

"  Only  those  who  lose  can  find."  His  mind,  blurred, 
confused,  lingered  over  this  certainty. 

"  He  is  conscious,"  said  a  voice  beside  him,  and  a  face, 
dark,  curiously  eager,  bent  over  him.  It  was  Morris 
Pugh's.  Walking  over  the  hills  that  morning  on  his  way 
to  Caeron,  the  county  town,  he  had  come  upon  Ned  Black- 
borough,  had  summoned  help,  and  brought  him  to  the  in- 
firmary. And  now,  although  having  seen  him  but  once  in 
his  life,  he  had  failed  to  recognise  the  light-hearted  maker 
of  ducks-and-drakes  in  the  worn,  unconscious  man,  so 
close  to  death,  he  longed  with  all  the  eagerness  that  was 
in  him,  that,  ere  he  had  to  leave  him  to  death,  he  might 
have  the  chance  of  saying  some  word  for  the  Master.  For 
these  eighteen  months  of  hard,  practical  work  in  the 
slums  of  London  while  they  had  sobered  Morris  Pugh, 
had  left  him  still  ardent. 

"  Hullo!  "  said  Ned  weakly.  "  I've  seen  you  before 
somewhere — haven't  I  ?  "  He  paused,  and  some  one  gave 
him    another    spoonful    of    stimulant.      He    wondered 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  347 

vaguely  why  he  took  it,  since  death  must  come;  but  it 
was  as  well  to  please  people — if  you  could.  "I  re- 
member now, ' '  he  went  on,  as  if  he  were  recalling  it  from 
very  far  away.  "  It  was  when  we  hid  the  hundred 
pounds.  You  were  the  parson  who  said,  '  Money  was 
the  root  of  all  evil.'  "  He  gave  a  ghost  of  a  smile, 
then  looked  into  the  dark  eyes  curiously.  "  I  suppose 
you  took  it?  " 

Morris  Pugh  flushed  at  the  very  memory  of  that  never- 
to-be-forgotten  search  for  God 's  providence  on  the  moun- 
tain-top. 

''So  it  was  you  who  made  the  ducks  and  drakes — I 
remember, ' '  he  said  slowly.  ' '  No !  I  did  not  take  it ; 
but — but  I  looked  for  it,  and  it  was  gone. ' ' 

' '  Gone, ' '  echoed  Ned,  and  lay  thinking. 

"  Then  it  must  have  been  Ted  who  took  it,"  he  mur- 
mured, going  back  into  the  past.    "  He  must  have  gone 

that  midsummer  night — why,  yes !  of  course "    Then 

suddenly  his  dulled  mind  grasped  the  whole  sequence 
of  events.  '  '  He — and  Hirsch — that  is  how  he  got  Aura 
— my  money — damn  him!  " 

11  Hush!  "  came  Morris  Pugh's  voice  sternly.  "  You 
stand  too  close  to  the  judgment  yourself  for  curses " 

"  I — I  will  say  bless  him,  if  that  suits  you  better," 
murmured  Ned  wearily.  "  And  if  you  don't  mind — I 
prefer  to  stand  alone." 

1 '  No  man  can  stand  alone  before  the  judgment  seat  of 
God, ' '  pleaded  Morris  Pugh  earnestly.  "  I  do  not  know 
what  your  life  has  been,  but  the  best  of  us  need  an  advo- 
cate; and  there  is  One." 

"  My  life?  "  echoed  Ned  dreamily.  "  I  want  to  for- 
get my  life — not  to  talk  about  it — if  you  would  go — and 
leave  me."  Then  he  opened  his  eyes  again.  "  Did  you 
bring  me  here  ?  ' ' 

' '  Yes !  I  brought  you — I  found  you  unconscious.  But 
there  is  One  who  will  bring  you  safe  into  the  fold. ' ' 

1 '  I  wonder  if  you  would — be  kind  enough  to  let  me — 
die  alone. ' ' 

"  Alone!  "  echoed  Morris  Pugh.    "  You  can  never  be 


348  A    SOVEREIGN    REMEDY 

alone.  And  even  for  this  world,  would  you  not  like  us  to 
call  your  friends — to  let  there,  know  1  ' ' 

11  I — I  have  my  friends,"  he  answered;  "  I  want — 
nothing. ' ' 

So  after  whispering  about  him  regretfully,  they  left 
him  for  a  while,  and  he  lay  staring  at  a  ray  of  sunlight 
which  slanted  through  the  window  at  the  further  end  of 
the  ward,  and  fell,  in  a  golden  glory,  upon  an  empty  bed. 
If  it  had  only  fallen  upon  his ! 

Gold !  Yes !  everything  was  gold  in  this  world.  How 
people  fought  for  it,  selling  their  souls,  their  bodies  for  it ! 
yet  how  little  it  meant.  A  hideous  mockery,  indeed,  was 
this  Christian  greed  of  gold.  And  yet  money  meant  much 
— Ted — damn  him ! 

"  Mate,"  came  a  voice  from  the  next  bed,  where  a 
tramp,  hollow-eyed,  unshaven,  who  was  recovering  from 
an  attack  of  pneumonia,  had  lain  listening,  coughing. 
"  Tain't  no  business  o'  mine  in  a  way,  but  there  ain't  no 
good  your  lyin'  an'  damnin'  a  man  as  ain't  done  you  no 
'arm.  'Tain't  in  a  way  fair  on  you  for  me  ter  let  you 
go  to  'ell  over  a  lie.  It's  the  rumm'est  start  as  I  sh'ud 
be  'ere,  but — ye  see,  Ted — 'ooever  'e  may  be — didn't 
take  that  'undred — I  took  it. ' ' 

"  You!  "  he  said  faintly. 

"  Me!  "  echoed  the  tramp.  "  It's — it's  the  rumm'est 
start ;  but — you  see  I  was  on  the  lay  atwixt  Blackborough 
an'  Liverpool.  Outer- work-an '-emigration  lay  it  'twas, 
an '  not  a  bad  one  in  the  summer  time,  for  them  Welsh  is 
generous.  I  was  asleep  in  the  gorse  close  by  when  you 
two  come  by  an'  smashed.  Then  you  begun  shieing  the 
shiners  about,  an '  I  waited  thinkin '  to  get  some  of  'em  out 
after  you'd  gone.  An'  I  did  too,  what  with  bein'  able  to 
dive.  But  there!  The  'ole  thing  wasn't  much  worth; 
not  more  than  one  good  drunk,  an '  then  it  was  over.  But 
don't  you  go  a-lyin'  an'  damnin'  the  wrong  fellar.  It 
was  me,  not  'im ;  so  curse  me  an'  welcome  if  it  do  you  any 
good. ' ' 

He  rolled  over  on  his  pillow,  and  said  no  more. 

Ned  lay  still,  and  smiled  inwardly.     His  mind  was 


A   SOVEREIGN   REMEDY  349 

clouding  fast.  He  felt  vaguely  glad  that  Ted  had  not 
taken  the  money.  But,  then,  how  could  he  have  taken  it, 
seeing  that  it  had  never  existed  ?  They  had  all  thought  of 
it,  and  relied  on  it,  and  gone  to  look  for  it ;  and  there  was 
nothing.     It  never  had  been  anything  but  a  dream. 

The  gold  sun-ray  had  crept  down  the  ward.  It  lay 
now  closer  to  him.  If  he  could  only  die  in  the  sunlight ! 
That  was  the  only  gold  worth  having. 

How  the  atoms  danced  in  it !  unceasing,  endless.  He 
felt  their  vibration  in  himself,  but  beyond  the  dancer  lay 
sightlessness,  and  touchlessness,  and  soundlessness. 

Faint  voices  came  to  him  from  around  his  bed. 

1 '  There  is  time  yet !  Repent  and  be  saved.  Put  your 
trust  in  Him !  Keep  your  eyes  fixed  on  Him — remember 
that  you  are  bought  with  a  price." 

There  was  just  the  flicker  of  a  faint  courteous  smile. 

"  Caveat  Emptor,"  murmured  the  dying  man,  and 
turned  his  face  to  the  sun-ray.  ' '  Aura !  "  he  murmured. 
"  Tad  ekam." 

The  sun-ray  shifted,  crept  to  his  bed,  and  lay  there, 
golden. 


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